Fading of colour

The hallways of my school home are empty
The light flickers as I turn the corridor
There is a girl ghosting down the hall
Text books in her arms
Her skin is pale ad her hair flaxen
Her eyes downcast as she goes in the direction I came
I turn into my hall, the colours are faded and dull
I open the door to my cell with a sigh.

I throw my books on my messy bed and sit at my desk
The colours in my cell leap out at me
The posters and my books, outlawed due to individuality
My text books glare at me, telling me to work
I know I am drowning in conformity

The jailors knock on my door
I freeze
They tell me to open the door or else
They have finally come for me
I open the door and they walk in
They tear my posters and take my books
“You must study
You must focus on your work”
They say as they leave

All I have left are the tatters of my mind
I sit on my bed and cry
The colours already fading from my mind
My sanctuary bleeding away
The siren rings and like good little automatons
We leave our cells and stand in the hall
Our jailors count heads
One smirking as he walks past me
I stand blank faced and ignore him
Four more years I say to myself
Four more years and I am free

But what will be left of the idealistic nineteen year old
When she is twenty three?
Will I still be me?
Or just another face in a crowd of millions?
May the minds of tomorrow not be bound
By the same restrictions
And may I have the strength to show them
As their teacher
That the world should be filled with colour
Even if only in their own minds.