DNA

Before some of us leave

the county jail

the officers chain us—

And I am shackled

again— Maybe these are the

same chains that bind me

to my ancestors—

Maybe these are the same

chains that bind me to

my father and my

father’s father and all the

men that came before

him— Linked together

like those DNA strands that

I learned about in

biology— And

maybe I’m not supposed

to break free from them—