The silent screams of hollow children

In my city

here is my reality
The story
Of my city
I've been living
In a Maine city
All my life
Where
The majority of people
Are poor
And live in apartments they
Can barely afford to pay for
My city loves its religion
And the lgbtqa
Are afraid
To come out
For fear of being homeless
The schools
In my city
Are places
Where the kids go
To learn to fight
There is always a cop
Waiting to pull
One kid off of another
Like they expect us
To fight
Like they are encouraging us
To attack each other
And tear limbs off
In my city
Going to the parks after dark
Could get you killed
In my city
There are kids
Smoking vapes
In the bathrooms of the schools
And kids
Getting high
And drunk
In my city
We've had one seventh grader
Die
Every year
For three year
In a row
And we fear
That we will be the next one
This year
In my city
The fear of getting killed because
We were in the wrong place
At the wrong time
Is strong
In the children
they run
Like mad men
Because their parents
Don't try and rein them in
In my city
Nobody is safe
In my city
You watch out for yourself
And avoid standing out
To survive
In my city
Surviving
Is blending in