INTO THE GOODHUE COUNTY JAIL: Poems to Free Prisoners by James P. Lenfestey (audio clip)

ISBN 978-1-890193-73-7
39 pages
5" x 8"
Trade paper edition

THE QUIET ONES

In orange jumpsuits the color of a monk's one robe,
the quiet ones, like monks, slide from cell to table,
carrying inside them the story which is their life.
They eat slowly, hands careful, then still.
All over America, prisons sprout like monasteries.
First thing in the morning, bells and chanting together.
Then breakfast-thin soup, a steamed white roll bland as stone.
Everyone wipes his own bowl, the day spread out before him.

from Into The Goodhue County Jail: Poems to Free Prisoners (Red Dragonfly Press, 2008)



James P. Lenfestey is author of Han-shan is the Cure for Warts (Red Dragonfly Press, 2006), A Cartload of Scrolls (Holy Cow! Press, 2007) and numerous other works. He has been engaged with the writings of the Cold Mountain Poet, Han-shan, for many years. The poems in this collection are a result of that study and a visit made to the Goodhue County Jail to talk about writing poetry.