PAPOLíTICO, Poems of a Political Puersuasion by Jesús Papoleto Meléndez

through the System of
THE REMEDIAL RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTIONS
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
INSTITUTIONAL HIGH SCHOOL FOR
THE ADVANCEMENT OF PETTY CRIMES
TO HIGH MISDEMEANORS in the Hub of
149th Street & St. Ann’s Avenue
in the South South Bronx!
Though the Youths’ Social needs
Go otherwise neglected,
They stand, nonetheless, Convicted
of what shouldn’t even be a crime;
Was not once upon a time, is now
forevermore
Firing up a Blunt(
As is your whole culture)
— Up/Against the Law!!! . . .
While the more Freedom You have,
The less Liberty is Yours!
You can’t even look up to Contemporary Adults —
Who, with some vague sense of cultural intellect
and lack of self respect, stand on their knees
with their arms outstretched, placated
by the mediocrity of democracy
they embrace in the jobs they hold, or hold not.
Locked-up into their System of Circumstance,
Content with their Lottery in Life.
Living in a state of Quasi-fear,
Aspiring to be absorbed by the dysfunctional
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JESÚS PAPOLETO MELÉNDEZ