<P><B>Hope and Innocence
<P>By Chris the Cynic
<P>
<P>Stuffed animals lie 
<P>scattered on the floor. 
<P>Rocks that once seemed priceless 
<P>part of the mess. 
<P>Models, toys, trinkets 
<P>all junk now. 
<P>
<P>A teddy bear, and a plush alligator 
<P>once a best friend and a protector 
<P>now painful memories of what is gone. 
<P>Life lies on the floor 
<P>in tattered books, and broken dreams 
<P>in the stuffing bleeding out 
<P>of an orange cat and a purple frog. 
<P>
<P>Calendars of years gone by 
<P>with subscription magazines never read 
<P>bring tears to the eyes. 
<P>Clothing is crumpled like dreams 
<P>in piles so thick that the floor disappeared, 
<P>hope smothered under oversized t-shirts. 
<P>
<P>The future is gone 
<P>it died when the notebooks, 
<P>filled with stories 
<P>that would one day be novels, 
<P>fell to the floor 
<P>to join the inescapable now.