two million imprisoned
mostly black and brown
expensive in lives
expensive in dollars
overcrowded
slow genocide
who knows if you did
any of what empire accused
but when the average murderer
serves seven years inside
your eighty year sentence
is clearly unjust
three women living in a white-washed concrete
cage built for one
no room
no property
no space
stored like lost baggage
the casual cruelty of male violence
keeps your female body in line
watching you in the shower
on the toilet
patting your body familiarly
for weapons of mass destruction
completely missing the missiles of your words
targeting you
expecting you
to cringe as a controlled victim
you must have scared them
Texas white girl
hanging with the brothers
looking for justice
looking for human rights
looking for women’s equality
you must have scared them
after sixteen years inside
they locked you in a hole in a hole
September 11 terrorism
a paranoid police state
will never celebrate you
they cannot force you
to cut out your own tongue
—for Marilyn Buck,
political prisoner