Educated [Read: Incarcerated]

They purged the education 

From the prison system

But installed the prison system 

Into high schools

Like mine

Big brick buildings 

Built in an era so terrified 

Of youth

Of energy

Of revolt

That it sacrificed our sunlight

In the hopes that we’d 

Never learn to shine

(Read: outshine them).

They corralled us like cattle

With whistles and bullhorns

Like school was some 

Prosaic sport

And the only rule was 

Never catch the referees’ attention

And my petite frame

Long hair

And unassuming stride

(Read: white skin)

Shielded me from view

Day after day

Year after year

They taught me to be truant

Living off the rush

(Read: privilege)

Of getting away with it

They hailed our 

Demographic diversity

Hung flags in the halls

That no one recognized

Representing histories

Branded into our bones

That they refused to teach us about

And turned a blind eye

To the tables below their guard tower

Divided like a sepia toned mosaic

Into circles tinted 

Every shade of shallow

(Read: scared)

They were scared to mix us

Scared that we would fight

Terrified that we wouldn’t

They reinforced our comfort zones

With systemic fiberglass

To keep the peace 

(Read: divide and conquer)

Inevitably

Some of us were released

On good behavior

With black hats and diplomas

To shield our tender eyes from 

That alien sun

But others heard our cheers

From detention rooms

(Read: holding cells)

Shackled by rolled up truancy letters

Like the ones we dipped in rum

To light our bonfires

And waited for the men

With whistles and bullhorns

To push them down the hall

(Read: pipeline)

Into prisons

That would feel

 A little too familiar