Debtor Prison Circa 2016 by Gerard Sarnat

The family of eight cobbles day and night,

survives on a ruthless shoestring

fashioning pedigreed plutocrats' filigreed velvet 

slippers

so at least their youngest doesn't go hungry or

barefoot.

Systemic beatdowns when they got sick, couldn't work

or buy bread.

Dickensian distortions --times are now different, of

course...

Chocolate or pale, pulled over for trivial traffic violation

--tailight defunct

taking kids to see Pluto at Disneyland, cascading

expired car registration/

fines/fees, can't make bail, jail serves as a warehouse/ collection agency 

that shellacs twelve million detentions a year, most of whom are poor,

mentally ill, school failures, homeless, non-violent

substance possessors,

nada public rehab programs available --the pity the

horror the waste of it.