{"id":1074,"date":"2020-01-29T20:39:47","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T01:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nlg.org\/guild-notes\/?post_type=article&p=1074"},"modified":"2020-03-05T16:55:20","modified_gmt":"2020-03-05T21:55:20","slug":"at-what-cost-do-i-become","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.nlg.org\/guild-notes\/article\/at-what-cost-do-i-become\/","title":{"rendered":"At What Cost Do I Become (Poem)"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Richard Moise<\/strong>
\nCumberland, MD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Martin Luther King had a dream because he was free.
\nI have nightmares because I am in prison.
\nThere is a guy down the hall. He is always screaming
\nI know he will never be free because he never stops screaming.
\nI wish desperately he would stop screaming.<\/p>\n

In here my only friend is a pen.
\nThe only thing that gives me the illusion of freedom
\neven then, my only friend I can\u2019t depend on because
\nthe guards deprive me of him.<\/p>\n

The guards who says he guards me for my
\n\u201cprotection\u201d also wears the American flag on his shoulders
\nthat quietly tells me \u201cgive me liberty or give me death\u201d
\nbut out loud I\u2019m screaming \u201cI am a Haitian, unity is strength\u201d
\nin the morning I tell the same guard
\n\u201cStop trying to divide and conquer, my enemy is not my friend\u201d
\nThe same guard they are all the same, with the American flag
\nOn their shoulders quietly telling me \u201cgive me liberty or give me death\u201d<\/p>\n

During the weekdays I motion the Judge
\nFor my freedom, without hesitation, he denies me and
\nTells me freedom ain\u2019t free, it would cost me $400,000 and
\na Bentley.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, I called my mother and asked her for a
\nPenny, but it\u2019s too late she is caught up in the frenzy
\nof the American Dream because she is free<\/p>\n

I have been locked away for a decade
\nnow.
\nI finally receive a letter from my brother, my
\nsister and cousin, man I\u2019m so happy and excited
\nI open the letter, and the guard smile at me,
\nI look down to read the letter.
\nDamn! It\u2019s not a letter, it\u2019s a painted picture
\nof eulogy of somebody I was supposed to be<\/p>\n

Dear Rick, your son has grown into a
\nsuccessful man, every morning he wears a suit
\nand tie to work making six figures, he dreams
\nof becoming president to abolish the 13th Amendment<\/p>\n

The guard walks away from me, but the flag on his
\nshoulders whispers at me \u201cgive me liberty or give me death.\u201d
\nToday I wake up with strength, and suddenly I take
\non running, the man down the hall stops screaming,
\nthe flags are staring at me,
\nwhile I wonder if I will make it past the
\nfence I\u2019m screaming \u201cI\u2019m a Haitian, unity is strength\u201d
\nnow I make it over the fence and all I remember
\nis Martin Luther King had a dream.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Richard Moise Cumberland, MD Martin Luther King had a dream because he was free. I have nightmares because I am in prison. There is a guy down the hall. He is always screaming I know he will never be free because he never stops screaming. I wish desperately he would stop screaming. In here […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":1098,"menu_order":88,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"issuem_issue":[208],"issuem_issue_categories":[188],"issuem_issue_tags":[217,143,148,29],"class_list":["post-1074","article","type-article","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","issuem_issue-guild-notes-vol-44-no-3-4-fall-winter-2019","issuem_issue_categories-beyond-bars","issuem_issue_tags-beyond-pars","issuem_issue_tags-poem","issuem_issue_tags-poetry","issuem_issue_tags-prisons","post","post-with-thumbnail","post-with-thumbnail-large"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t