Olivia Romano

CELL BLOCK 5

Arms huddled around her polyester body,
she swallows the dryness of her blood.
"I've been to the edge," she says,
remembering little bald scorpions
at the courthouse
who sealed her fate
in papers and shiny briefcases.
"That's how it is," her cellmates say.
"Another ruin, another day."


Gerald So reads "Cell Block 5":



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Olivia confesses: "I feel that injustice in our legal system is endemic, and incredibly unfair to those subject to this system. Recently, due to an increase in social awareness, this subject has been sparking the outrage it deserves, so I wrote this poem to contribute to the visibility of this cause."


OLIVIA ROMANO is a poet who hails from New York City. She is an insomniac and coffee drinker, preferring to write most of her poems at night when she is both at her most contemplative, and running on three cups of tea.