Central Command buzzed her clear
She passed into the clean, cool air
The sun shining bright cast the yard in stark light
A basketball court within the fence,
topped with barbed-wire and menace
As she walked to her car, the knocking commenced
With conflicting emotions, she raised her hand in salutation,
in acknowledgement,
in sorrow for their predicaments
She taught college courses in the prison for the community college
Some of her students,
men from Cell Block B and Cell Block E,
waved from their cells,
through the bars and the windows of their cells
Other men waved too,
for salutation, for acknowledgement, for encouragement
from a woman other than a guard
Indignation, frustration, sorrow, compassion, anger, empathy, pity--
all flashed through her mind--
After all, she could be one of them, if only …
Men in cages, cages in which we put men,
What have we become?
Author Bio:
Kathleen Murphey has a Ph.D. in American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania. Her dissertation was on Loren Eiseley (1907-1977). She teaches English Department courses and Women in History at Community College of Philadelphia. She has looked at issues surrounding female sexuality in popular culture in her academic writing and is now exploring some of those issues in fiction from short stories to poems. She believes that the personal is political and that fiction and poetry are important vehicles for protest and for re-envisioning our world and our choices. In her ideal world, people would read a wide variety of literature to help them sympathize and empathize with all kinds of different people and to empower them to work toward a world in which all human beings are treated with courtesy, tolerance, respect, and civility. Literature can transform lives, so every poem is an invitation for transformation. In addition to teaching and writing, she is the mother of three lovely girls for whom she wishes a better, kinder, and more socially just world.
She passed into the clean, cool air
The sun shining bright cast the yard in stark light
A basketball court within the fence,
topped with barbed-wire and menace
As she walked to her car, the knocking commenced
With conflicting emotions, she raised her hand in salutation,
in acknowledgement,
in sorrow for their predicaments
She taught college courses in the prison for the community college
Some of her students,
men from Cell Block B and Cell Block E,
waved from their cells,
through the bars and the windows of their cells
Other men waved too,
for salutation, for acknowledgement, for encouragement
from a woman other than a guard
Indignation, frustration, sorrow, compassion, anger, empathy, pity--
all flashed through her mind--
After all, she could be one of them, if only …
Men in cages, cages in which we put men,
What have we become?
Author Bio:
Kathleen Murphey has a Ph.D. in American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania. Her dissertation was on Loren Eiseley (1907-1977). She teaches English Department courses and Women in History at Community College of Philadelphia. She has looked at issues surrounding female sexuality in popular culture in her academic writing and is now exploring some of those issues in fiction from short stories to poems. She believes that the personal is political and that fiction and poetry are important vehicles for protest and for re-envisioning our world and our choices. In her ideal world, people would read a wide variety of literature to help them sympathize and empathize with all kinds of different people and to empower them to work toward a world in which all human beings are treated with courtesy, tolerance, respect, and civility. Literature can transform lives, so every poem is an invitation for transformation. In addition to teaching and writing, she is the mother of three lovely girls for whom she wishes a better, kinder, and more socially just world.
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