The body in motion is locked
in a correctional facility,
alone during lockdown
without shower or yard.
The giver of freedom
is shrieking from the lips
of the body in motion, begging
to be more than machine.
The constitution of the body
has an unholy clause
permitting slavery and servitude
as punishment for crime.
The body is America in
a cage called rehabilitation.
The giver of freedom is shrieking
from the body in motion
striking. A striking movement
is fasting faster and faster.
The body in motion is a country
ringed by walls and quicksand guards.
A man in a cage is more than a body
that has been duly convicted.
A man in a cage is striking
with the tools he has:
his empty gums, shrieking solitude, and
your silence after he asks a question.
READ MORE
What are the nationwide prison strike demands? [KALW]
What you need to know about the ongoing national prison strike [The Daily Dot]
J Spagnolo is a poet, activist, teacher, and cultural producer living in Berkeley, California. Spagnolo has shared poetry through radio shows, film festivals, podcasts, publications, and events around the world. Spagnolo co-directs Poets Reading the News.
Photo by Jason Wong.
