The Net Of Complicity

said freddie:
i saw it all in greenhaven prison
one day in the cafeteria line
i heard the guy behind me say something
and felt his hand hit against the back
of my thigh
i ignored it
his hand hit my thigh again
and this time i heard him say
pass
i put my hand by my thigh
and felt him pass me something
i looked down and saw a knife
i didn't know what to do
i couldn't keep the thing
i couldn't call a screw over
so i hit my hand against the thigh
of the guy in front of me and said
pass
he took the knife
a few minutes later
a guy further up the line
fell to the floor
with a knife
in his back

Dennis Jacobsen was a Lutheran minister involved in chaplaincy work at Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, when this article appeared.