Congress should declare a National Fart Day to relieve everyone. A musing.

— Lester L. Polk

 

Of all the simple pleasures in life, nothing compares with a good fart. Although they can indeed be unpleasant to those standing in their immediate vicinity, farts honestly bring great relief to those who release them.

It is considered unmannerly to expel wind in the presence of others, but this pressing intestinal need inevitably seems to arise at the most inopportune times when one is surrounded by people. First dates, elevators, classrooms, church — flatulence knows no timetable.

How many times have you suffered abdominal cramping for the comfort of others? Silently bore rectal rumbling so that sensibilities will not be offended and your reputation remains upstanding? Too many, I say.

We need a change so cheese-cutting men and women can break wind, poot, and float an air biscuit like free Americans.

Considering there’s a national day for everything from doughnuts to donkeys, Congress ought to enact a National Fart Day as a holiday from the restraints of good manners governing the breaking of wind.

On National Fart Day all citizens would be encouraged to let loose their anal acoustics everywhere and anytime. Just think of the relief it would bring to one and all! I say, let freedom rip! It’s about time.

Being forgiven leads to forgiving others in a cycle of compassion that has the power to break the chains of violence.

— by Lester L. Polk

 

When I first arrived in prison, I somehow kept expecting that an alarm would go off and awaken me from this surreal nightmare, that I’d be able to tell my fiancee Vicki that I had had a horrible dream where I was taken away from her and locked in a cage.

Yet day after day, I woke up and saw not the pewter eyes of my teenage love, but the drab painted walls of the cell that became my expatriate dwelling for what would be the remainder of my life.

As time passed, I found myself in a quandary: should I become one of those around me — a convict who accepted this environment as his life and choose its mores over society’s? Or should I attempt to retain the Lester that I was before the infamous ride of a night that left a man dead and his wife and daughter brutalized?

I chose the latter. So with the typical care of a fish out of water, I stayed close to the wall and tried not to make a fool of myself as I frantically held on to what humanity I still had with a vise-like grip.

Yet, no matter how hard I tried, I came to the conclusion that for a man bearing the weight of a life sentence, holding on to the vestiges of his existence in the free world is like trying to catch the wind.

After the first decade or so of incarceration, I thought like a convict. I’d get a 32-cent an hour job and a girlfriend to send me care packages and maybe sneak in a cuddle or two during visits. Still, I was focused enough to steer clear of the common prison fare of gangs, drugs, violence and anarchy, mostly because I had had a few encounters with violence. Each had proved more destructive than the slow death sentence I was already subjected to.

Yet, I could not see taking my last breath behind bars. After taking the obligatory trip to the law library and jailhouse lawyers beat me out of my money, I realized that it would take a miracle to get out from under life without parole.

So I tried a tactic born of desperation — I prayed. I had been brought up in the church and I remembered one verse from Sunday school — “And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” John 8:32. I figured that if I prayed enough and was good enough, I’d find this truth and it would set me free.

I leaned into it hard because I wanted Jesus’s help — bad. I went about it like a college course, treating the Bible as required reading and worship services as required classes. My conduct began to change. I became a good Christian man, a soldier for Jesus. Yet, I still wasn’t whole. I didn’t experience the cleansing power that preachers talked about so often. I still felt hollow.

Then one day, I had an epiphany. In order to go forward, I had to go backward, back to the night where I lost my moral compass and sense of decency. But I couldn’t do it. I had worked hard to get rid of that Lester. He was a monstrosity who had emerged only once in my lifetime, but he had ruined lives. I no longer knew him and I certainly didn’t want to revisit him.

Like a secret agent, I had always had a cover story — I had gone along for a robbery and it went horribly wrong, I was just “an accessory to an accidental homicide.” But that was only half the truth. While I had no criminal background, I was not just an accessory in the course of events. I was an anger-propelled catalyst of them.

I was fueled by the rage of perceived injustice against me, a rage that I had been holding inside for years. That fateful night, I was in a position of total control over others, and I lost grip of reality, compassion and goodness. Even as I write these words, it is still hard for me to speak frankly about what I did. I was a black man fulfilling an old stereotype, robbing a white family in their home, yelling racial epithets with an ungodly blood lust that had been building like a volcano for years.

For forty-eight minutes, I terrorized the family whose home I invaded. It only ended when I threatened the sanctity of the teenage daughter, and the father heroically intervened by attacking me. My co-defendant wrestled him down and shot him in the back. We fled.

I ran from these facts for nearly a decade. The idea of going back to that night gnawed at me. One of my Christian brothers suggested I write to the widow and her daughter. So I did. In a bland but heartfelt letter, I admitted my wrongs and expressed sorrow. And I was proud of myself. I had done my Christian duty. I had made amends.

When I received no response, I was relieved. If they didn’t want to address the pain, who was I to peel off the scab? So I ran back to my cover story. For eight more years, I lived with the overwhelming shame and relentless burden of my detestable actions.

One day, out of the blue, I received a letter from the widow. She asked if I was okay, if I’d ever heard of “restorative justice,” and if I wanted to do a “mediation.” I’d only vaguely heard of such a program. I was intrigued, but reluctant. How could I ever sit in front of her and talk about what I had done to her and her family?She kept writing to me. She didn’t want to yell, she said, she just wanted answers. I warmed to the idea, but it didn’t happen and that was fine by me.

Two years later, I received a call from the Office of Victim Services in Sacramento. My victim had requested a mediation with me, and a trained mediator would prepare me for the meeting. I was taken aback. A mediation was one thing in theory, to go though with it was an entirely different matter. But I also knew this was the hand of God and I would regret it if I passed up this opportunity.

In my first meeting with the mediator, I encountered a small, demure woman who possessed a gentle kindness that enabled me to drop my cover story and face the full extent of the painful destruction I had caused. Subsequent meetings helped me recognize that although I couldn’t fully fathom the evil I had done, I did indeed do it. No amount of denial could shield me from that fact. As I began to own my actions, I was able to empathize with the family. I saw the infinite number of ripples the stone of my selfishness had caused. As that happened, I became eager to get well. I had to. I did not want to meet the widow with my old issues lingering.

I tore into every rehabilitative class that was offered, especially group therapy. I was embarrassingly honest and made myself emotionally naked. Feelings flooded me, repressed memories, old anxieties, secret fears, all with deluges of incessant tears. In prison, a world full of predators, displays of such emotion are not generally done. They make you vulnerable — and a potential victim. But I couldn’t have stopped even if I had wanted to. It poured out of me.

After much work, I was finally ready to meet the widow. I couldn’t sleep the night before. She would be like a praying mantis, I told myself, she’d bite my head off when she was done with me.

Anxiously sitting in the foyer of the visiting room, I knew that nothing would be the same after that day. “Okay Lester, we’re going in there now. Let me know if you’d like a break or if it becomes too intense for you,” the mediator said.

I walked in. I’d been in the same room many times, but always with a supporter, never to face the fear I’d been running from for twenty years. My therapist and the Survivor, as I now called her in order to truly pay tribute to what she had gone through, stood in front of me. The Survivor did something I did not expect. She held out her hand for me to shake. It was quite a different reception than the last time we had met, in a courtroom. I earnestly shook her hand and we all sat.

The Survivor spoke first. “What led you to be in my home that evening?” she said in a determined tone, like a reporter who had a lead on a story and was not going to leave without it.

“Well, I had been involved with a group of people, who I wouldn’t call friends, and they were making a great deal of money from robberies. I told them I wanted to join in, but they were actually looking for another person I knew to join them. I wasn’t part of their ‘crew.’ I was really an outsider who vaguely knew of their activities.”

The Survivor looked intensely into me eyes as if trying to ascertain whether I was lying. I continued, explaining how her house was chosen.

“Say that again. Do you mean to tell me that it was by chance that my home selected?” I answered in the affirmative.Our faulty logic deemed that a safe containing thousands of dollars was in the house and we did not believe the victims’ claims that they had no safe. Our unwritten rule was never leave a robbery empty-handed.

This information was met with stoic silence. The meeting was getting quite intense. I looked for the exit. My therapist gave me a reassuring nod. I continued. “Can I read a letter that I wrote to you as part of my therapy? It’s called ‘victim’s shoes’. It’s written as if you were writing to me about the trauma that my actions caused.” She nodded.

The letter was filled with insight about the pain and turmoil that my actions had caused. I looked intently at the paper as I read. I didn’t feel worthy of looking at the Survivor. When I finished, I found the strength to look up. To my surprise, tears filled her eyes.

“You get it, you really do get it! i just wanted to know if you understood. Now I know you do. That means so much to me.”

“I just wanted to let you know that I am so sorry. I can only express to you that I have spent my life trying to be the exact opposite of what you experienced that horrible night. I can only beg you to find it in your heart to forgive me.”

Eyes as a symbol of hope. A poem.
— by Lester L. Polk

Piercing blue eyes that penetrate my soul
I don’t know why but they speak to me
Those blue eyes tell of a future that I’ve seen with my spirit
One where I am free to compliment a woman on her beautiful eyes
without fear of reprisal.
Yes, they speak — loudly
They tell me to believe
They say do not cast away your hope in God for it has great reward
They say do not despair, young man. One day, you will have someone
with eyes just as beautiful as these, looking at you with the same longing that you feel
Eyes like hers used to mock, disdain and even worse pity,
but now there’s a real exhilaration when they are seen
No despair there, just a true expression of hope
I wonder if she knows how her eyes speak
But I think I’ll leave her out of it
This is between her eyes and me

Poet’s Note
This was written during a lockdown, when loneliness was my constant companion. That day, I was led to read the 128th Psalm, which spoke about the surety of a loving family for those who trust and rely on God’s goodness. After that, it made no sense to be worried about the absence of female company. A legacy of love is worth the wait.

A love poem.

— by Lester L. Polk

Like the raindrops
are my thoughts
of you
continual, consistent, heavy
surrounding me
enveloping me
desire for you
penetrates my soul
like wetness soaking my clothes
clinging to my body
as a second skin
weighted sticking
overcome
loving it

A love poem.

— by Lester L. Polk

The sun breaks through the lattice

and I awake to nirvana
today like every other
I eagerly await the gift of all gifts
the sight of your lovely face
the place we call home
warmed by the beauty of your essence
bedhead
eyes red
beautiful
unfettered magnificence
viewed in wrinkled pajamas

A short reflection on maturity.
— By Lester L. Polk

“The older I get, the smarter my mother becomes,” was an adage repeatedly declared by my fourth-grade teacher. The saying made no sense to the ten-year-old me, but now I find it overflowing with much wisdom.

When we’re young, our journey consists of just going along without making preparations, asking for instructions or seeking directions. No wonder we end up lost.

But wisdom can be found in our mistakes. By getting lost and finding our own way back, we gain experience. Once we gain that, we are able to acquire the maturity that will guide us in our various journeys from that point on.

Being lost, of course, is not nearly as much fun as getting where we want to go, just as telling someone off is not as effective as proper communication, or quitting a job is not as gratifying as paying rent, or realizing that sex has consequences far beyond climax. When we get tired of being lost, maturity informs us that we are not indestructible so we better take it easy.

In my youth, I lacked the wisdom, experience and maturity to guide me in my journey, but I’m hearing my mother’s voice more and more lately.

This time I think I’ll listen.

A collection of short poems about life lessons learned.

— by Lester L. Polk

 

 

Love is

Love is a unicorn

because its beauty is mythical

all have heard of it, few have seen it

those who have spend everything

trying to describe it

Love is the 26th mile

in the marathon

the hardest to reach

but truly satisfying when attained

Love is a dagger

that strikes through the hearts of many

yet will be the tool to defend and protect

Love is the truth

whether words of romantic woo

or life altering reality

Love is cupping a breast

while caressing a mastectomy scar

healing the hurt within.

 

 

Clean

Pure, precious, blank black canvas

No knowledge of pain, wrong unseen

Pristine perfection

Infection, disdain, introduction to pain

Violations seen but ignored

Marred visage

Fault offered

accepted, rejected, dejected

purpose lost

chains abound

all around the world

ceaseless search

never finding

 

 

Paradox

what you are

what you want to be

what you have

what you desire

what you think

what really is

what your mind says

what the mirror shows

turmoil, struggle

the battles rages

then

the mirror shows

what your mind says

you think

what really is

all you desire is

what you have

what you want to be

is really who you

are.

 

 

God for a Moment

Every time we make a decision

we are God for a moment,

the master and ruler of our world.

Every time we make a decision

we give place to worship or hate

our personal deity in an autonomous place.

Every time we make a decision

we rule the universe

that is in our own skin.

At least in our lives

we know what is reverence

or sin.

Find me in

nirvana

paradise

seventh heaven

where I sit upon

my everlasting

throne

at least for the

moment.

 

 

Good Morning

It’s morning

the darkness has passed

free from unspeakable pain

hurt

harm

and danger.

This is the new normal

where we are

at peace.

The anger of midnight

has evaporated

in the warmth of

a renewed trust

Like a fresh dew,

safety is on the

edges of our lives

slowly, steadily,

encroaching on our hearts.

 

 

Everything

I am the love that you have desired over the ages

I am the safety that you lost in your pain

I am the prosperity that eluded you in poverty

I am the hope down the drain in the face of disappointment

I am the erotic thought in the middle of the day

I am the greed that kills in the third world and laughs in the first

I am peace that escapes as tomahawk’s rain

I am the health that mocks you from your death bed

I am everything and nothing.

 

 

The Itch

Why is 

that which you want

is rarely what you need?

Why is

that which you cannot live without

you have lived without

for years?

Prison strips people’s identity down to a dehumanizing series of digits. A prisoner takes exception. A poem By Lester L. Polk.

I may be known as a number

H72800

An unknown entity

to those charged with cataloguing and warehousing me

but actually I am a creative, sentient being.

To some, I am the seventy-second thousand, eight hundredth person to fall

into the trench of the hotel series of lost causes.

H72800

But I am a source of volcanic vision, wanted and unwanted.

I am the strength of a geyser, the force of a hurricane.

I am the truth that will not die

no matter how many attempts are made on its life.

I am freedom.

When I was about ten years old, I was sexually abused by an older boy. I thought I had brought it upon myself because I didn’t fight back. My family, my source of safety and values, told me so. From that moment on, life was no longer simple, no longer clean and innocent.

I saw my life through a prism of paralyzing shame. My entire purpose for being was filtered through what I had suffered, and there was no escape from it. The incident was my constant, unwanted companion, my scarlet letter branded on my soul. I felt my life could never again be whole.

As I grew into adolescence, I began to question my very essence, who I was on the inside and my God-given heterosexual orientation.That disjointed thinking of a victim formed the nexus of my teenage behavior because I had to find a way of erasing the stain off me. I needed the feelings of powerlessness that overcame me during that incident and never left, to end. I had to get my being back from that animal. I thought I could do that by becoming a “real man.”

I turned into a hypersexed person. Since it was my greatest fear that people would out about my secret, I made myself the least likely candidate, the person no one would ever suspect of having undergone such a trauma. But no matter how much porn I viewed or how many sex partners I collected, the confusion and shame remained in my psyche.

My consciousness was so contaminated that the shadow of my trauma spilled into all my relationships, both familial and romantic. I would shrivel on the inside when I met new people for fear that they would find out about my dirty secret and reject me. Anytime I came into contact with these new friends, it was like I was constantly reliving the worst moment of my life, as if I were stuck in a horrible time loop of that night, desperately trying to get free but to no avail.

I have since learned that in molestation cases, it’s not the actual act that is the worst for the victim, it’s the constant state of shame and filthiness that the act leaves on the victim. It’s the fear that if people knew, they would run away in terror. It’s the inner alarm that screams “you’re not good enough!”, “no one will ever love you!” But these are the insidious lies the trauma wants you to believe because by believing them, the trauma remains in power.

 

 

After many years, I finally came to the conclusion that life is not what happens to you, but how you react to what happens. I was giving that predator too much strength. I was allowing him to live rent-free in my life. He was only my master because I let him. If I chose not to let him rule, then he is a deposed ruler. I alone had the power to change “my” trauma into “the” trauma. I can know that what happened is just what happened. It is just one thing in my life, and is not the seed from which the rest of my life grows.

I know now that what that he did was his issue, not mine. I didn’t turn gay because my ten-year-old self went into shock at the hands of a predator. I can’t blame my family because they did not know how to handle the unspeakable, a tragedy that was easier to sweep under the rug than confront by getting me the counseling that I desperately needed.

I can only say this: I no longer accept “my” trauma. It is now just “my life,” one of the many elements that added all together, make me, me. So as detestable as that incident was, I wouldn’t be the man that I am without it. I accept it as part of my life, knowing that I am the only one who can control it, not a bewildered ten-year-old boy and surely not fourteen-year-old predator.