Out of Order

By Wilbert Saunders, Jazz the Poet

First and foremost I must confess

Lately I’ve been slightly stressed

Doubtful, confused and unsure

Of how much more pain I can endure

Due to an odd capacity of empathy

Confinement is slowly killing me

Pardon me for sounding like a slave

Preparing for an early grave

But without liberty there’s no stability

Clear consciousness and low morality

When a man’s mobility is consistently denied

Serious damage is done deep inside

Everyday I’m crushed by grief

Despair and frustration beyond belief

Consumed by anguish of sisters and brothers

Detached from families and broken hearted mothers

Extremely displeased I am to see

My people victimized by captivity

This man made hell is traumatizing

Hostile, degrading and dehumanizing

Mass incarceration is an evil conspiracy

Viciously attacking Blacks and minorities

Prison officials are cruel and rude

Arrogant, disrespectful with nasty attitudes

Those with life sentences have no chance

To improve or reverse their circumstance

Others dealing with mental issues

Are often manipulated and abused

Thrown into units of isolation

Torture chambers hidden from population

Society thinks prisoners live well

But two people share an 8 x 5 cell

No space and poor ventilation

Easily causing a health situation

That’s only a few of the problems

I’m sure it’ll take time to solve them

But let us look at the devastation

Of mass incarceration in this racist nation

Write to Jazz the Poet:

Wilbert Saunders #67277066

Federal Correctional Institution McKean

P.O. Box 8000

Bradford, PA 16701