Our most recent holiday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I was happy to celebrate it on the outside this year, mainly because MLK’s birthday is also my wedding anniversary. However, being out of prison for MLK this year helped meant I could avoid another bit of psychic damage that the Bureau of Prisons inflicted on us every year I was locked up. The BOP always fixes a “special” meal for inmates on federal holidays. Each MLK Day they served us fried chicken and collard greens, foods I enjoy, but goddam, really?
If you want to serve up fried chicken
The inmates will grin like the Dickens.
Just keep it away
From MLK Day.
The racism’s starting to sicken.
Perhaps another example of how real life serves up more absurd situations than any satirist can imagine. Fried chicken and collard greens? Did the inmates have to answer “Yes, massah!” when they got their servings? Is this what the corrections officers think of when they hear MLK dream of our children sitting at the same table?