Baseball bats and salivating mouths
In a square room, doors pocked

Once again I'm alone inside a crowd,
A misplaced throw, a misplaced swing

And everything unfolds
A microcosm of humanity,
A microcosm of cold

The waves wash over another
Anxiety, proximity erupting from the chemistry
Of testosterone, isolated until the first fists fly

Instincts pushed to breaking points,
Surging bodies, snapping joints

Two shoes lost inside a fray,
Two socks on laminated hardwood
360 degrees into harms way

A length of lead grazed the side of my head
As others fall, and others leave,
And others show their vampire teeth

Two chunks from my neck,
Four lips that drip with skin,
Socks that slide as the blood runs down my shirt
Or over two strange chins

There is no way out of detention
Rage pushed a doorway down
Fear carried me past the last contusions hurled
At bodies on the ground

Dizzy terrified awake in sweaty skin,
"Mom, I'm never going back to school again"
No, I'm never going back to school again
Never going back to school again
No, I'm never going back to school again