american inferno

the prison system is divine.
                    a comedy of errors. funny
                                        how, like gods, we’ve carved
                                                            out layer upon layer of just
                                        the right amount of hell
                    for each offense, a downward
spiral from juvie to eternal
                    life behind bars, from social
                                        and civic death to that lowest
                                                            ring of fire, death row. like
                                        god, we act on wrath, insist
                    there’s a price to pay for
worshipping at the altar
                    of greed or heedless pleasure,
                                        for disrespecting authority,
                                                            insist that some must die
                                        in the wilderness without
                    ever seeing the promise
of the land. no free bread
                    dropping out of nowhere
                                        to fill the emptinesses. no
                                                            beatrice to be or not to be.