Through Glass

You all wear the same uniform,
You all sit in the same row,
Non- guilty faces,
For the crime you've committed.
Listening, as your family tells you sad stories of home.

Your daughter is smiling.
She doesn't dare tell you how bad it is without mommy.
She's bright,
Her hair cut off above her ears,
Her eyes shining bright,
She's not mad at you.
She's glad you're still alive.

She says,
“Mommy, I wanted to sing you a song.”
She sings the words,
A song she heard on the radio,
Painful words to her mother,
As she tells about how she misses her so much.

Both your children watch in wonder,
Unclean glass blocks you, you can't touch them,
You can't hug them.
You apologize,
Try to make it better,
It'll only be a few years.

Your daughter cries,
As she's told she has to leave,
Has to leave mommy,
Alone in her cell.
“No.”
She pleads.,
She just wants to stay.
She promises she would even trade spaces.

She sobs,
She asks the guard shakily,
“Can't I just hug my mom? Please? I haven't gotten to in months.”
The guard says no,
Mommy has to stay behind the glass.

She cries for hours,
Still wanting human contact,
Her mother's touch.
She can't have that,
Not through the glass.

Not through the glass,
She can't say everything that's happened.
She can't feel her arms around her,
She can't feel any release.
Her mother is dead to her,
Through the glass.