Eli Sinaiko Prison Section: Thur. 10-11 Mass Incarceration Sestina A morose, somber thunderhead enshrouds America.

The Land of Opportunity its called. Always, this well-worn saying is thought, to be something positive, something good. Golden Opportunity where none before existed, Greater hypocrisy is not but laughable. Our countrys injustice system is laughable. Countless thousands languish currently in America. Nameless, faceless, like they never existed, a danger to society theyre called. Prisons are perceived to protect public goodLegislation lets millions rot without thought Change the system many have thought. But that notion is almost laughable, when dead presidents determine true good.i Cause cash rules everything in America. A free nation, so its called. Yet for millions, freedom never existed If only the prison hadnt existed many abolitionists have lamented and thought, under this system reformers who called1 for a fundamental change, are laughable, there might be no hope, America when Security becomes a positional good2 How can lifetime imprisonment sow good? This vicious paradigm has long existed. But hope might yet remain, America if we can cultivate collective thought. The carceral status quo is laughable. The solution? Prison abolition its called. Hopefully before more lives are called, incarceration has been changed for good.
1 2

Angela Y. Davis, Are Prisons Obsolete? (New York: Seven Stories Press, 2003), 51. Mike Davis, City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles (New York: Vintage Books, 1990), 224.

And it will seem utterly laughable, to remember that super-max even existed. The very idea of post-carceral America, nothing more than an after-thought. This vision cannot be called laughable. I foresee a good future, America Wherein no carceral thought has existed.

Artists Statement: This Sestina is an effort to make salient the immense scope of Americas system of mass incarceration, while capturing the despair of those who are incarcerated for long periods of time. I also sought to incorporate economic, historical, and critical lenses into the piece. Finally, I wanted to begin the sestina on a pessimistic, negative note and accentuate that negative sentiment as the poem proceeded, culminating in the fifth stanza. The last four lines of the fifth stanza represent a complete 180-degree turn from the original tone of the poem. The remainder of the poem is far more positive, culminating in the tercet, which evokes a bright future of a post-carceral America. This poem was very hard to write because the 6 words I selected, and the fact that every line needed to be 6 words, forced me to think very creatively and outside-the-box in order to stay true to the structure of the sestina while still accurately and coherently articulating my message.

Grade: 100/100

This line is a reference to the Prison Industrial Complex. The phrase Dead presidents is a metaphor for money. In the line Dead presidents determine true good I am attempting to bring to light the myriad ways in which the current carceral system is intertwined with money, industry, and private interests. The administration of punishment is no longer simply the domain of justice; it has acquired an economic dimension as well. Private prison corporations like CCA, prison lobbyists, and industries which benefit from dirt-cheap prisoner labor, all have a vested interest in keeping prison beds occupied. The profit motive has insidiously diluted the nature of Americas justice system.