The boy in the grey coat

He hated going to that home
The smell of disinfectant and linoleum soaked into everything
But he went every week, dressed in his smart grey coat

The walls were a shade of beige that hurt his eyes
And the fake trees had turned blue with age
But he put off everything for that visit

The strip lighting flickered and never seemed to get fixed
The vending machine was never full, the magazines were never updated
But he didn’t mind
Because when he saw that old man sitting in his chair
He saw a tiger.
Caged

The bright sunlight, dyed sepia by the old blinds
The plywood wardrobe, holding only a few things
His only things

He read a story every time the boy visited
They were always the same, crying out for his former days
But he didn’t want them back, not with the fire in him now

And every time the boy visited he gave him a coin
Not enough to buy anything, but more important
He feigned appreciation and left the old man
In the cage where he found him

So when the boy visited his grandfather’s intended grave
He saw why his tiger was caged
And he held his coin close.