Notes from Exile: Sentencing Day
Log/Verse: daily reflections from prison, written every morning at my bunk. Part poem, part log book.
In my recent Justice Notes posting, Jonathan Wroblewski shared an essay from his newsletter, Sentencing Matters, about the machinery of punishment : sentencing guidelines, calculations, enhancements and departures. While incarcerated, I often found myself wondering about the men around me and their sentencing day. The private reckoning each of us carries. The following prose poem was written during my incarceration. It is about that day that no one shows, but everyone carries.
SENTENCING DAY
Every inmate I see
for the first
time,
I wonder about their
sentencing
day.
No one shows
it,
but I know each
one of us,
carry that day
like no
other.
The call to stand, the sound
of the courtroom
rising,
the frightening pause
once all are
standing.
The Judge intones
his answer,
torturous moments, almost
in code,
his final revelation of final
and incalculable
despair.
For readers interested in longer reflections on justice, incarceration, and exile, my essays are linked here at Minutes Before Six..
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Specific, emotional details populate this essay and create almost tangible tension. The vivid descriptions of setting also contribute to setting the mood of this piece.