Alone Strong

I sit doing ten years for a gram of dope

Witnessing Johannes Mehserle get probation for murder.

I sit watching men starve to death

Witnessing guards who can´t even alight a flight of stairs,

Because they´re too fucking fat.

I sit in a country that told me to stay in school

And educate yourself.

In a cell where they won´t give me a book.

I was told in my youth to just say no

To drugs.

And now that I refuse their psychotropics,

They refuse me parole.

They told me to Love Thy Neighbor,

Like you Love Yourself.

And now I watch my countrymen shoot Mexicans,

Swimming the border.

I sit in the Land of the Free,

Rattling my chains

Waiting

I see the hypocrisy and the bitter twisted lies

Do you?

I sit alone

7.4 million strong

Knowing nothing more than to carry on

Nothing more than my country´s wrong

Knowing nothing – nothing´s at all wrong

To you

… 

(Feb.´11)

Gone fishing

It´s not me who stinks – it´s this place.

Not me who´s crying – it´s my face.

I sleep here but I don´t live here

Even though I don´t ever leave – I don´t stay here.

I watched one of my friends be buried February second

My Mama´s cousin died – and I delivered her a Valentine´s present

I held the hand of my Baby nephew Gage

As we caught fish in the North Creek river

By hand.

We picked “picture rocks” out of the gritty fish smelling sand.

My father paroles any time soon.

Our tent and fishing poles are just waiting

You wanna come – there´s room

I visited my brother Jesse in the Beaver County Jail

Him and I still can´t get along – oh well

But when I left I still miss him

I´ll still hug him the next time I see him.

My baby sister has got two babies

Gavin´s three months and I swear he´s crazy

He spits and kicks and giggles too much

He ruined my work shirt and poked in my lunch.

Everyone thinks of me as gone – not returning.

My captors think I´ve lost it – afraid to serve me

My fellows are mad without their medication

Trying to prove themselves in every situation

Games and fronts and insecure rantings

Solitary supermax – but in reality I´m camping

Firewood, campfire smoke – my family laughing

Woodchucks, pheasants - my family still laughing

(you see?)

(February 2011)