A Little Time Out Of My Day (Poetry Sidebar: Vol Four)
Metaphorically
Mesmerizing
Energizing
Memorize it
The answer to a prayer you said in silence
Fighting for victims in this twisted system
And abolition's the only take away
This the shit they hate to say
Or do and then fall into hypocrisy
Saying shit like we should jail them all
If the system is rigged and corrupt
I beg you to explain what that could ever solve
My credentials are making judges cry
At participating in cyclical systems
Built to ruin another's life
Like can you imagine missing a phone call and facing seven years
That being a normalized instance to fear
The initial charge was possession of something that wasn't there
Now, you first name basis with the prison guards
They know you and this guy got beef
So they keep you in a different yard
They go on the news and say they got drugs off the street
And that gets applause
But wait they'll be supplying more
Bodies filling cells for a profit
Do you got it
Copy and download a conscience
Systemic oppression
Compound my depression
Watching people lose a lifetime
Behind a judges decision
Only a moment to sob with the children
Before it's back to the prison
The rooms instantly spinning
The rage has been getting
So close to escaping
Like how did you commit the crime
And the rest of your life
You are stuck playing the victim
The lawyer says say that you did it
For an easier sentence
So, it hurts worse when the truth is that you didn't
And there are many more things that I'm missing
So in rapid succession
Let's answer the question
Living conditions
Lack of rehabilitation
Practically forced recidivism
Prison for profit
Kendrick in my ear
Like there's too many options
And we don't even need to get the optics
Like I'm supposed to empathize
Because the officer shot before
The unarmed victim got to an imaginary gun in time
So, it's abolition
Dismantle the system
Until it happens
-A. Souza