Calming influence

We used to be fast flowing back then,
The corridor was awash with kids.

Our walls rippled with their thoughts.
Our stairwell streamed imagination,
Among the roar of their depth,
Within the tide of their questions.
And I loved it
Back then

But then
You came.

And we settled with you.
Grew a skin around ourselves where the water could be held,
Where it could get easier to manage
The flow around us.
And we all knew that it’d stink
But somehow, your brittle voice rose,
Channeling the 'idiots', the 'useless', the 'fuckwits', the 'waste',
Till the tide stopped completely and the corridor grew flat.

It’s been a year now.
I drifted past your room yesterday,
Saw, through the bubble of your window
My kids, gnashing, flapping
like conned piranhas,
Desperate for something worthwhile to swim in.
While you sat in the deepest spot of your room
Frowning at your payslip, as if you’d just earned something.