Tucked in, locked away, they are trapped.

Fishers and farmers in what

seems as a safe and protected

area but is really a prison.

Surrounded and encased, locked

away by a guard tower. Watching

their every move, waiting.

Too scared to defend themselves

Until that feeling of filth inside hit

And enough was enough, they

Couldn’t take it anymore.

“NO MORE CORRUPTION”

They said, “NO MORE

CORRUPTION.” They fought,

“NO MORE CORRUPTION” and

they won. The gates have opened

but they don’t flee. The fishers fish and

the farmers farm. Locks unlocked,

prison ungated, no longer surrounded

and watched. To be corrupt no more

is the path they took. No longer scared

or afraid, but empowered. Ancestors 

would be proud, kids inspired to have

such an escape. It all sits in the back of

my head. The story grandma told me

before she passed.