School-to-Prison Pants

They had to be Dickies®, not Dockers®.

They had to include a cellphone pocket

on the right leg, & feign a faint hanging

off our tails in spite of a belt’s strangling

support. They had to scream prison, jail,

scream water’s rising, scream help-p-p-p

from the lowest floor. But unlike water

they couldn’t rise, couldn’t obey a warden

lest they risk being jive. They had to be

spread wider than bars. They couldn’t be

starched or pressed, but steamed via dryer.

They had to be creaseless, but crisp, khaki

as a waterline staining crest-white Nikes®;

Forces. Lord forbid they be high waters.