If the lined pages

                   Were a prison

                 Then the words

              Were the prisoners

           Whose sentences

           Were only

        Based on their potential

 

They’re dangerous! Cried the victim

You can’t let them get free!

You must have them arrested,

They’ve been harassing me!

 

For years they beat against the bars

Making sure they weren’t forgotten

Their words only as harmful

As the intentions behind them

 

Til one day someone had got curious

They unlocked all the cells

Confused as to why the victim

Treated them like annoying bells

 

While the victim started crying

Someone whispered in their ear

There was no need for jail time

When comfort had been right here

 

The prisoners were starving

They’d been locked up for far too long

 

Why had they been serving punishment

When they’d been harmless all along?