THE DANCERS
I was a cop.
so to speak, for that night,
and followed the real ones
into the lonely places,
the dives and the homes,
and saw the children crying,
and the poor mothers crying
and later on the way home
heard a cop saying,
“It should be fun tonight,
seeing them dance
in their cells,”
and heard me
whispering to myself
“No more of this,
Dear God, no more
no more.”
Seymour Shubin is a famous writer of crime and the psychology of crime. In a short and stunning way he has put an emotional edge on a serious issue.
The incarceration of Americans in the War on Drugs has reached epidemic proportions in the Black and Hispanic communities, but the impact is on the white community too.
All of the hot debates such as the right to bear arms, jobs, social security must seem meaningless to a large percentage of our population because of felony records for non violent “crimes”. The very records which should identify violent people are being handed out like playing cards and have had a definite Jim Crow effect.
Here is an excellent article by Michelle Alexander Michelle Alexander on The New Jim Crow and the school-to-prison pipeline
We support Michelle Alexander’s efforts and thank Seymour Shubin so much for this poem which so well shows the sorrow which must be there in the police as well. Bravo! Bravo!
This subject is what my humble song is about:
Joe Clark by David Michael Jackson
The Dancers © 2014 by Seymour Shubin
Image: Johnny Cash….We are using this image because we believe Johnny would be with us 100 percent.
david michael jackson May 9, 2014