WE HAVE BEEN ALTERED

Here we sit
silently
waiting
the fools
they bring us our meals
and we grovel
and drool
the doctors are demons
the nurses are ghouls
but weaving our baskets
we follow the rules

Nuns
in their majesty
made the decree
Huns
with their pageantry
stood there to see
straitjackets
buckled tight
no way to flee
somehow they altered us
hideously

Doctors
stand over us
eyes
sharp and black
we shit in our pants
to see how they'll react
poking
and probing
the doctors attack
as helpless
we sit
on the Damaged Goods rack

These warped little men
in their Wise Doctor masks
they know
all the answers
though nobody asked
at night they go home
to their wives
what a blast
leaving us
the poor vegetables
happy at last.



                                     (Mike O'Brien)