Alyce, 70
Incarcerated: 6 years
Housed: California Institution for Women, Chino, California
Inmate’s Lament
Dilapidated dorms, cloistered court yards
Wrinkled sidewalks, rutted roads, pit holes thump
Squawking doors, crunching windows- toilets rage
Locks explode, hints of freedom, clacking keys
Cliques chittering, snarking rabble-rousers
Truant trouble-makers, free-loading freaks
The old and infirmed, youngsters hunt in packs
Pompous gods*, control freaks with dinky feet
Women in uniforms, force of nature
Sacramento visits, nothings improved
Not all crooks are jailbirds, some do work here
Justice is blind to inmates; It’s just us!
Prison reform, a war lost- surely was
Lifer’s lament, my home away from home
*god= guards on duty