Surrounded by the cold white walls of a state prison
a slave of the system, a womyn bound by white man’s law
sees a tiny creature of God
a tiny sparrow attempting to fly
just outside.
It heads straight for the walls
hitting it hard
and falling
again and again
trying to fly away,
trying to go free,
trying to escape.
A little brown bird
a tiny creature
so small in such a big world
so little in the scheme of this womyn’s incarcerated life
one in of a flock of millions.
But she sees the man made walls that deter it
and knock it down,
just like her.
And she sees
That in the near distance
the prison cat patiently waits
just around the way
for a meal.
This forgotten yet unforgotten soul
from her imprisoned world
makes her shackled way quietly
to this little brown bird
and takes it into her hands.
Two creatures of God
one great and one small
both seeking freedom.
And from her great human hands
straight from her heart
she takes the little brown bird
gently into her palms and
lifts it up
gently guiding it higher
up past that prison wall
up
up into the skies
into to the outside world
asks it to speak to Creator for her.
She sets it free.
A test of faith
a sign from God
that even the smallest things
and the things that seem hopeless
do indeed have a chance
to make it.
This great womyn, with chains wrapped around her ankles
slowly turns and walks back
back into the cold grey walls that confine her
back into the cold grey walls that now define her
back into the prison cell
and awaits an answer
praying for her chance to be paroled
to know freedom
to fly again.
ABSTRACT: This poem was based on a real story and is dedicated to the womyn and mothers who are locked up in prison (particularly in the State of Texas) whose voices were silenced and freedoms were taken by force through legal, judicial and/or financial means. This poem is in recognition of the war on womyn in Texas, and in particular the war against mothers.
