"I Dreamed A Dream in the Glenhood"

For my teaching writing class, we have to regularly contribute small pieces of writing (Slices of Life) to a wiki. I thought I might post them here as well. And so I present:

"I Dreamed a Dream in the Glenhood"

There was a time when rent was free
When the beds were soft
And the lights were inviting
There was even a view to see.
When noises were soft
And not quite so fright’ning
There was a time
Then it all went wrong...
I dreamed a dream in times gone by
When appliances worked and plumbing was draining
I dreamed my house would be pristine
I dreamed my house would be for living
Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There were no utilities to pay
No floor unswept, no food left wasted
But the homework comes each night
With their workloads soft as thunder
As they tear your home apart
As they turn your dream to shame
I slept a year in the new dorms
The view filled my days with wonder
There were no scary stains to hide.
But then I moved for sophomore year!
And now I have this lifelong plea-
That only plants should grow and green.
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are rooms we cannot clean.
I had a dream my home would be
So different from this cell I'm living in
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the clean
I cleaned.

*Originally published Sept 19th, 2017