Before You LOCK my LOVE Away

Yesterday I spoke with my cousin who's locked up for quite sometime. My voice cracked and my sould ached when I told  him I missed him and hope he'd been staying up. And shit, he sounded more optimistic than I did on the phone. He seemed more in tune with his spirit than a lot of people out here in these streets. But I knew if he had his way, he damn sure wouldn't be in there.

I thought about how the hell it is that he's surviving in prison. And how the hell anybody can survive that life. Damn. I don't think that life is for anybody. And in every jail cell around the world, there is a soul waiting for a breakthrough. There is a fragile mind in an idle state. And there is a human; caged like an animal and controlled by man.

And I'm very certain that it is the penal system that has destroyed a lot of our families, from all over, of all kinds. It is the penal system that took some of our daddies, raped so many of our men, and turned out too many of our mothers. In my opinion, it is this very system that has brewed hatred, racism, socioeconomic differences,  homosexuality and a financial crisis. And these things have us all behind bars, locked away from what's real; outcasted from the truth.

On the surface of things, society says we need jails. We need laws that say when someone screws up to the highest level, there needs to be some sort of sought consequences. But looking inside the penal systems make me wonder what it is that "law" is taking away from "criminals"? And what is it that both are bringing back to our society? The penal system, I believe, has locked away a lot of hope and caged many of us as wingless birds. Birds that will never be able to take flight in a sky that may always resemble hues of gray.

Dead or in prison-that's where most say our young generation will end up. And if you ask me, there is no difference. Because a prison can kill your spirit as if you've met death. And although some come out with a better understanding of life, sometimes more in touch with their spirituality or just more cognizant of reality...time was still stolen from them. And time can never be replaced.

Love,
Vee