The word is new to me, although I guessed it came from carcer,

Latin for a prison, which in turn came from a far earlier

Indo -European root, ‘ker’, which was doubled as ‘kerker’ to give

The sense of enclosure, as in the related word, circus. If

You were found guilty of a crime in Rome, you were unlikely

To be jailed unless you were awaiting execution -exile,

forced labour, fines and whipping being much more common.

Standard incarceration is an invention of Christendom.

When they call the state carceral, they mean that its key

Institutions imprison its citizens actions and thoughts in ways

That suit its rulers. Most decent people think this theory is farcical

And angrily reject the notion that say, education, is carceral.

 

Susan aged 25 was in prison for selling small quantities of ketamine,

A sensible, cheeky, model prisoner, six months pregnant, keen

To give birth and nurse her baby. She was taken to hospital handcuffed

To a male officer, and still was when displaying what he called her muff

For examination. Her labour was intensely painful, but he showed no

Interest while playing heavy metal on his phone. The female officer who

Replaced him was no better. She felt abused and violated. The complaint

She made was dismissed by the governor who said some officers would faint

at the sight of blood, so she was lucky with the two she had. This ain’t

a holiday camp, he said. Show some respect to us and we’ll show

some to you even if you are a housing scheme drug dealer, amigo.

 

From the age of five, my school taught me to revere the men

In suits and ties and gowns who hit me again and again.

I was no angel, but I certainly was not as feral

As those whose discipline made the place carceral.