a revolutionary confined

there once was a man existing
in a 6 by 8 foot cell. his ticket in
was being born in a system that
predisposed him to go to jail.

his greatest sin wasn't the 70 dollars
he stole from the gas station.
his greatest sin was surviving when
the prison walls were trying to devour him.

standing tall in the shadows of confinement,
his words traveled farther than he ever did.
though his life was one short-lived
his spirit lives on in the souls of the wretched.

a man twice doomed,
hunted by a state of fascist pigs,
spoke of revolt
any chance he could.

he did not allow the icy chill
of isolation and torture to break his will.
August 21, 1971, this courageous man was murdered
defending his brothers trapped inside with him still.

humans were not ever meant to live in constant opposition,
he knew this was not the way that we were wired
and though he was given very little of it during his life,
George Jackson knew revolution should be love-inspired.

-Liz