In the Dry Well of the Afternoon

She answered No
she didn’t want to add anything
about getting an education
in prison— what it meant.
She sat right on the corner
of the two tables pushed together
crowded with women in green.
Later, her head rose even higher—
gazelle at the edge of the grasses
long neck arched, chin tucked in
listening hard
for the sound of approach.
They don’t want us to learn, she said
her head turns a quarter turn, freezes.
They mock us--the guards--
they do everything they can
to undermine us.
Quick intake of breath,
the snap of fire taking hold
in the updraught
of silence
surrounding her.