Helen Whittaker
and Cheryl Leibovitz

Cheryl Leibovitz
Inspiration piece

Tasting Freedom
By Helen Whittaker

Response

Beyond the bars
a crescent moon rises
like a dead fish
in a stagnant pond.

Poking out from under the bed
a pair of striped legs:
Jimmy the Switch’s nightly impression
of a car mechanic.

The chirp of unseen crickets
masks the scratching sound
as Jimmy’s teaspoon scrapes away
a few more molecules of concrete.

The jailhouse semaphore
starts up on the water pipes.
Jimmy hides the teaspoon behind the skirting board
and jumps onto the bed.

Freedom is a dish
he’ll take however it comes.
For now he’s sampling it
one spoonful at a time.

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