ONE LIFE?

"Retarded" and rejected from birth,
A "State Case."
Always last, never first,
Naught but a number in the system.

Growing older and older
Institutionalized.
Always watched and kept in order,
A sweet loving face, lost forever.

A rotten tooth from years of neglect,
A system broken.
A horrible doctor he did not select,
Pain that cannot be spoken.

"They feel not the pain like you and I,"
The rich physician said.
The dentist, he takes not state money either.
He bangs his hands on the table top in silent pain.

The tooth is a broken stub and guns are red,
No time now the doctor said.
He sets in his world, his room, his bed,
Hopelessness, dread, another night, another day.

A single tear slowly slides down his cheek,
A "State" case, we will just wait.
Existence in his world is bleak,
His hands they clutch his reddened cheeks.

No, he doesn't feel like you and me,
Just as the doctor said.
Just possibly if we look close and see,
We might just feel the tear at least.

Retarded, State Case, Institutionalized
lost