Teaching Poetry in the Prisons
I think of him
as a victim
(a veteran)
of war--
every day was
the enemy
in a house-
hold that thought
children should
be punished
with barbed wire,
belts, burns, punches,
pinches, slaps, kicks,
starvation. Where meth
was the vitamin,
sex was the money,
where poverty was
the neighborhood,
poverty was
the country
and nobody ever
called him honey
until high school
freed him to be
part of something
larger than himself,
a gang. They robbed
a convenience
store; someone got
shot, killed--he did not
pull the trigger yet
here he is twenty
years later, life
without parole--
shaking my hand,
smiling at me,
thanking me
for helping him learn
one new word.
Poet and visual artist Susan Kelly Dewitt is the author of 5 books of poetry, most recently Frangible Operas. Her work has appeared widely. She is also former Program Director of the Sacramento Poetry Center, as well as a Poet in the Schools and Poet in the Prisons. You can find more about her at susankelly-dewitt.com.