The eyes of Felicia Snoop Pearson (the Wire)

Eyes betray the slate grey walls of Jessup Correctional.

14 with a baseball bat, swung and made contact with felony charges.

Tried as an adult cried like a child when cell doors swung behind her.

Braided corn rowed child of corners, alleys smelling of piss and malt

liquor. Ethereal willow growing out of  abandoned houses lost to the

American Scheme, learning to fight by being beaten, waiting for her

turn to show she learned well the song of the streets. Singing that

song under her breath mouthing the words to a cliche' made real by

zip code prisoners trapped inside their own skulls. Truthful wrinkles

and tiny valleys surround the eyes of Snoop. Hugging herself as she

sleeps, no love in these streets. Sinew and muscle memory is all she

has. Maybe she has seen too much....