The things that stay with you
These are the things that stay with you,
The Door locking tight behind you,
C.O.’s walking us two-by-two
Holding the hand of our partner,
Women, together, serving time,
Sitting in their cell block,
Training retired greyhound dogs
Who share their cell at night,
Others sit at sewing machines
Making prison clothes,
Busting into laughter, they joke about
the size of men’s boxer shorts
coming off their machines,
These are the things that stay with you,
A woman put her baby girl
In her car, at 3am,
Headed out to find the man
To sell her more cocaine,
Ran her car off the road and hit a tree,
Her baby girl flying through the front windshield
Never had a chance.
Another woman’s partner gave her HIV,
The father to her children,
She met him at the door,
Split his head wide open,
with her own two hands,
Got picked up on her 3rd charge for selling crack,
She didn’t care anymore,
Because what was there to live for?
Prison time gave her a chance
To decide to live again,
Their faces ever stay with me
As do those peering out of Lock Up
Where they sit 23 hours a day,
Eating meals in their cells
And reading the Bible,
While we peer back at them.
These are the things that stay with you,
Correctional officers with walkie talkies
Wait for the buzz that opens you once again
To the outside world,
To freedom,
To being able to sit, alone, in your car
And decide where you want to go,
While they go back within the walls,
Watch TV, if their bill is paid,
Lie down in their army cot,
Say a prayer for their loved ones at home,
And dream of doing
What we just did,
Walk straight out of hell.
CF Black 4-23-2012
Doctor Grandma 