(Un)Hearing.

Tranquility is shattered
with a stranger’s words;
I have heard them,
though they don’t hear me.

Their wishes are my commands,
from which I have no escape.
Questions they ask me
are forever rhetorical,

my responses better left
unsaid in an “adults’” world
(“adults” so childishly convinced
of their undeclared superiority).

Still, I do as they instruct,
my eyes watching the clock,
patiently waiting for
that which I crave most…

_______freedom,
______________respect,
_____________________and (maybe)

someone to listen.