Rebecca Schumejda

A Novice Guide to Wildflowers and Maximum-Security Prisons in New York State

After watching a Frontline special on solitary confinement,

I go outside to clear a pathway through wild flowers.

Am I the only one who looks at bleeding hearts and sees

a courtroom full of victims’ families and friends?

Orange poppies as crushed-up paper bags that guards ask you to

place your bra into before walking back through the metal detector?

All those petals bent around air as fingers wrapped around bars?

The prickly stems of Bull Thistle as razor wire?

Foxglove as bullhorns?

Forget-me-nots as shackles?