A poem from Mercedes Eng’s forthcoming and second book of poetry, prison industrial complex explodes.
Carole is a ghost mama
whispering into the ears
of the fertile red nation
plant seeds in the ground
and in the womb
ground zero for the revolution
while Jessi is in belly, before Jessi’s bug eyes can open
Carole shows her the world
Carole flies through a sky as big as an ocean
her oil slick hair streaming behind her for eight city blocks
murders of infant crows clutching strands of it
she sights the prison holding Jessi’s daddy’s body, mind, and spirit
descends to his window
she hears him singing
“I Can’t Get Next to You”
not like the Temptations, like Al Green
lower, lonely, filled with the longing that put Jessi in Carol’s belly
to his loves he sings
I, oh, I, can turn a gray sky blue
you see, I can make it rain when I want it to
to his call she responds
I, I can fly like a bird in the sky
they let out Jessi’s dad when Carole gave birth to her
beautiful Carole, paper bag skin a black waterfall of Pocahontas hair
Jessi was lucky to get a golden halo
Jessi’s destatused mama died of the system
they let out Jessi’s dad to look after her
once the price of her mama was extracted
Carole reads
in the 2013 Canadian census report that since 2006
the Indigenous population increased
from 3.8% to 4.3% of the colonial nation
and she dances
knowing that there are possibly more red children than since contact
knowing there are even more babies, ones who avoided becoming state stats
unregistered babes taken to the woods
knowing this she dances
and she puts her back into it
Jessi’s mama is
a ghost mama
whispering into the ears
of the fertile red nation
plant seeds in the ground
and in the womb
Carole researches
Group 4 Security (G4S)
the biggest private security group
the third-largest corporation
in the world
Carole learns
about G4S regulating prisons in Palestine
regulating security check points in American schools
regulating the US/Mexico border
Carole laughs and cries
when she reads on the company’s website:
In more ways than you might realize, G4S is securing your world.
Carole weaves
a G4S-resistant security blanket
big enough for all the babes of the red nations
then starts weaving a net to capture G4S execs
puts on headphones to speed her work
raps along with Nicki: first things first I’ll eat your brain
Jessi’s mama is
a ghost mama
whispering into the ears
of the fertile red nation
plant seeds in the ground
and in the womb