The anecdotal joke is true We mentals do smoke or tend to And in my case it was because Our smoke break was all that there was To do in the lockdown psych ward Locked up abhorred locked down ignored But let out to get in a cage Barbed wire between us and the sky Every two hours our pilgrimage To see the clouds that passed us by More free than we would ever be The orderlies gave all and each Some who had stitches in their hair One cigarette two out of reach And all and each of us were there Some visitors bought better brands Like Kools with questions brought demands But only one and we were done Unless the orderlies had plans For razor wire or taser fire It seems our dreams are last to die Because it was far past time I Wondered could I be understood Under the barbed wire but felt good Where the world ends to make new friends And I recall when it was me After the fall then after all Barbed wire between us and the sun Locked up and down and afterward Where in that cage there I was one Forgetting with a cigarette Smoking in the lockdown psych ward +Steven Curtis Lance Copyright MMXII