Moonlight

she lay asleep
like moonlight in night air

she had been sun wind rain fire
but moonlight was rare

he hesitated to touch
how do you hold a moonbeam in your hand

then she shifted
her hand rested on his

and he marveled at how
moonlight captured him

— Sandip Datta, MD
The Human Condition 2002


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Elmwood CCW*

Jail smells of
elementary school cafeterias
bus station bathrooms
airport smoking rooms.

I show my
pencils (less than two inches)
paper (blank)
clothes (no gray)
pockets (empty)
and I'm in.
At 19, Mary Lou
has done everything
I never will.
She writes letters
to Baby Amy
who left so soon.
"Mommy did some bad things
but I'm gonna change."

My enthusiastic pupil
tackles vocabulary:
"Advantage."
"When a guy give you drugs for sex?"
"Aluminum."
"Like when you do smack?"

She leaves in March
with crocheted bags
and newfound knowledge:
Stealing is wrong.
Drugs are bad.
Girls can be gay.
Moms love their kids.

In June she's back
thrilled to see me
and tell me why –
something about a cop
a joint, some coke, a knife.
She's glad to be here.
The classes are fun.
She likes marching.

I should be happy
Here, there are no black eyes.
Less drugs, more cigarettes.
A bed and a shower
instead of hotel steps,
3 meals instead of
back-door restaurant throwaways.

A woman escapes.
Security tightens.
We wait over an hour:
husbands, sisters, neighbors,
mothers, children, lovers
on greasy chairs
and grimy floors.

We stare at black smudged walls
and our own fingernails.
No windows look out
but a camera looks in.

A tiny girl runs to the door,
tracing a finger along the list:
1 hug per visit, no gifts, no felons.
Scowling, concentrating,
she studies the worn letters.
"Mommy…lives…here!"
Triumphant, she smiles at her brother.

Older, wiser, he nods.
"All the mommies live here."

*Correctional Center for Women

— Molly Capron, class of 2003
The Human Condition 2000


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I'm sorry, sir, but this is a three-story building
and all three stories have been told today.

Three-Story Building

Basement:
Fourteen call girls sat in pickup trucks
Eating French fries with cheese sauce
Watching their beepers
And peeling oranges — each peel coming off in one piece.

One:
The elevator is not working.
A fat man with a small dog tried to use it just
Three minutes ago
And the elevator went on strike —
Something about dogs not being in the contract.

Two:
With the elevator broken,
The quarrelling lovers had no time to escape
One another and ended up conceiving a single
Paycheck for the OB doctor.

Three:
Three hours into their shift and four lines into an eightball,
The third-floor maid and janitor were done —
Staring glassy-eyed at the walls of the maintenance closet,
The maid remembered what she gave up for Lent.

— Joe Hyder, class of 2004
The Human Condition 2001


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