She Brought Her Fish With Her

She brought her fish with her To remind her of home And because she trusted no one to feed them like she did She was persnickety like that They were not nice to her today, roughed her up a bit while they strip-searched her. Told her after all she had gone through She could see her husband tomorrow. He was in punishment. What could be more punishment than where he was? She stared across the courtyard at the prison Wondering which window belonged to him Did he even have a prison? The bed was lumpy, uncomfortable And she found someone else’s hair in the sheets Not the cleanest room she had ever rented But she wanted to stay where she was, so she kept this quiet. Praying that tomorrow she might actually get to see her man After they roughed her up and strip searched her. She told the fish “You don’t know how lucky you are” having no idea her husband had hanged himself three days prior.