I wait in the courthouse
for Jose, my 13 year old client,
to be brought to Juvenile Court

After patted down & frisked
by arsenals in uniform
Jose shuffles
from concrete cell to court room
in a parade of shackles & chains

Jose is a child at risk
who returns scared & scarred
to his steel spring bed
then to the hood
without a neighbor

where homies share war stories
as cop cars cruise
in the ghettos and barrios
of their America

tomas 08