The Visiting Room

fallen M & M's
children fetching the hard candy
men on one side,
women and children, (and sometimes fathers) the other
"Number One in Security
Professionals Make a Difference"

black shiny bubbles,
eyes on the ceiling,
big brother watches

black eyes, green doors, white walls, florescent air

se habla español
la muchacha de Colombia

I watch her as I wait
she crawls into the state owned toy box
and playfully closes the plastic sliding door
as if she fights to escape
the sentence that was given
by a judge who meant it for the man behind the glass

once a year
an old woman drives
from the swamps of Louisiana
to the mountains of Colorado
to see her son
carries his weight
on her frail shoulders
three life sentences

tears roll down her face
onto the waxed floor
shined daily by men
who are fortunate enough
to leave their cells
and work for 11 cents an hour
the jailed janitors
forced by the state to wash away the pain that is their own, their loved ones

vending machines spit out food
permissible after the security checks
quarters from little plastic bags are exchanged for candy, soda, bad coffee

straining and stretching the phone cord
plexiglass reflections
illusions of closeness
and black shiny eyes


Michelle Foy lives in the San Francisco Bay Area works with Critical Resistance, a grassroots national organization fighting for an end to the Prison Industrial Complex and a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization. She originates from Colorado, where she was fortunate to begin the relationship with people both inside and outside the walls that inspired the poem, The Visiting Room.