| Return To Reginald Lewis' Homepage |
Reginald S. Lewis
#AY2902
1040 East Roy Furman Highway
Waynesburg PA 15370-8090
A VERY COLD PLACE
by Reginald S. Lewis
With no warning the internal memo came first. A cold, crude, hastily written document announcing the changes to take effect march 5, 1998: 'starting with a general shakedown of all death row inmates at SCI-Greene, in upstate Pennsylvania, all privileges were being revoked, (though they were few), visiting time cut in length, personal property seized'- an invocation that sent an icy chill through the dark, hallow corridors of death row. One hour later, the confraternity of "shakedown boys" swept into the unit, converging portentously into every pod, into every cell, pillaging, destroying, rummaging through our personal possessions with the frenzy of vultures gutting the carcass of some dead animal.
They deliberately seized photographs, letters, the inmates' artwork, art supplies, clothing's, books, watches, pens, magazines, legal, religious and educational materials--violating the constraints of their own mandate.
They took everything I had. Everything. Even my plays, manuscripts, and works-in-process. I watched helplessly as they raided my cabinet and bookshelf stocked with books on Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity. Clammy white fingers carelessly tossed about books by some of my favorite black authors: Maya Angelou, James Baldwin. Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellision, Dorothy West, Walter Mosley. among others. I had just purchased Toni Morrison's new novel, Paradise.
It was so cold. Cruel. Inhumane. It was imperceptible to me, that in this information age with computer disks capable of storing vast libraries and the electronic windows open to new worlds--why they were slamming shut my small, dusky window to all those worlds my books provided. I Balked. But I was dealing with the clones of Hitler's ghost - Gestapo--like guards corralled from nearby counties with the highest adult illiteracy rate in the entire state.
My protestations drew
a cadre of tobacco chewing henchmen who quickly surrounded me. Their cruel,
serpentine eyes advertised their murderous intent. I returned a fearless,
cool eyed gaze. I felt the presence of unseen angels, flanking my
left, and my right. And after a fusillade of threats and browbeating, they
left me alone. The next day. numerous death row prisoners went on a hunger
strike in protest of the punitive measures constantly being enforce
upon them. One
of the recent changes was the CO - PAY for medical services policy, requiring
inmates to pay for medications and prescriptions--a measure that increased
the likelihood of death for poor inmates inflicted with some injury or
life-threatening diseases.
In this cold place, death looms. An order went out for body bags.
Copyright © 1998 Reginald S. Lewis
| Return To Reginald Lewis' Homepage |
