Spoon Jackson knows the worst of the prison system, but THE worst thing about prison isn’t about the prisoner.
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There are so many worst things about being in prison. Missing my family and never seeing my nieces and nephews grow up. Not being able to go to my parents’ funerals. The food is horrible, the cells small and truly are cages, and they stink no matter how much you wash or clean. The lockdowns are like being locked in a stall in a dirty park or rest stop bathroom for 6, 7, 9 months—sometimes up to a year. Not being allowed to be around friends and family and others you want to be around. Always having a gun above your head. Never being allowed to truly be with a girlfriend or wife—not allowed to hold hands or walk to the park. This poem says a lot:
Cave
Standing in this cave
looking out this crack
Of a window
Hoping there will be
an angle
A path for the sun
to blink in through
the tiny slit
in this hulk of stone
This place where
they do not believe in trees
as though they’re evil
spirits
There are none here
no bluebirds singing
no crickets fiddling
only unnecessary chatter
Nothing
Even the sky’s diluted
by illusions of power
The wind carries the sounds
that are refused to be
heard
The whips and whispers
of the night
cannot understand this
apathy against trees
I long to go
to a rich flowing meadow
where flowers bloom
with retribution
◊♦◊
Okay, the very worst thing about prison is that the families suffer and are in prison too—shunned and ostracized sometimes. It is about the living pain I have caused my loved ones and family on the streets. The worst thing is not being able to go back and erase the pain and tears I caused people who loved me and the people I hurt. The worst thing now still is the pain of the prison system—living pain of the young folks who have family in prison. There is nothing naturally loving or forgiving about prisons. The people whose loved ones are incarcerated must figure out a way to be beyond the walls and love—natural love.
Photo: la Caja de la china/Flickr
Great post Mr Jackson, and a very illuminating poem…