by Umar Al Aswad, FCI Seagoville
Corruption don’t always wear ski masks.
Sometimes it wears cufflinks.
Sometimes it walks into meetings
with polished shoes and handshakes
that smell like expensive, tax-payer money cologne.
Sometimes it says…
“we’re investing in the future”
while the school ceiling leaks
rainwater onto a child’s spelling test.
Sometimes corruption smiles for pictures,
cuts ribbons,
kisses babies,
stands behind podiums talking about unity and hope
while hope got holes in its shoes
and belly on “E”
waiting at the bus stop.
I’ve learned theft ain’t always somebody
running out the neighbor stores.
Sometimes theft is stealing years,
stealing hospitals,
stealing books.
Stealing opportunities before children
even learn the word opportunity.
And the dangerous thing is…
(SMDH) — shaking my damn head
the dangerous thing is we learned
to recognize the robber in streets,
but not the robber writing policies.
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