Glass System

BY KAYAH HODGE

When they questioned you,

you couldn’t see them behind your replica sitting back,

watching you squirm.

Were they cold?

The air thick?

Heavy?

I can’t imagine

what they’ve done to shatter you how they’ve exposed and manipulated you

behind these bars.

When I reach my hand,

yours feels miles away

on the other side of

the cold, thick, heavy

glass

stained

through which we see

the crooks in the

crooked system.

Their accusation of your guilt

negate all evidence.

One hypocrisy of a democracy

The way your eyes

gloss over like the

cold, thick, heavy

glass that holds the weight

of lies they tell

themselves

to sleep

reminds me of the

cold, thick, heavy,

drink that fogs my memory at night,

until you’re next to me,

sipping on your glass

as I sip mine.

About the Author

Kayah Hodge is from Brooklyn, NY, and she enjoys creative writing. She draws inspiration from events around her, books she finds interesting, and generally, her life as a Black, Afro-Latina. Inspiration for "Glass System" came from writers who make people like her feel seen, James Baldwin and Dr. Yusef Salaam. She was encouraged to write about mass incarceration and the emotional residue that scars. #EndSystemicOppression