It Is A Great Prison Poem by Raymond Farrell

It is a great prison
And we've all
Been incarcerated in it
At one time or another
There is never enough
Money to keep it supplied
Everything is in short supply
The furnishings keep vanishing
Along with the fixtures
Paintings on the wall
The drapes the carpet
The kitchen utensils etc
Are continually being changed
Nothing is satisfactory
So everything must be changed
Even the clothes
The inmates wore yesterday
Are lying in discarded heaps
Out back of the place
In great landfill sites
That stretch
As far as
The eye can see
Overflowing with the discarded
Fads and fashions
Needed no longer
Those had to have
Items of the day
Yesterday, last month,
Last year, last decade
Last century
On and on
As far back in time
As the eye can see
And from barred windows
The most discontented
The lifers
Look out with sad faces
Others are leaving
But they will be caught
And incarcerated again
Soon
There is never any joy here
And what happiness there is
Is brief
And as effervescent
As the smell
Of a freshly peeled orange
In this
The prison of want