Recently, an old friend gave me a book of her poetry at brunch. We had a chance to cover the 45 years since we have seen each other. I commented that poetry is an important social vehicle that few people appreciate.
I told her this story.
A close friend of mine, Catherine Campbell, had long been active in the prison reform movement, particularly in dealing with the health needs of prisoners.
Catherine is a lawyer who had access to prisons but because of her activism such access was always available at a bureaucratic snails pace.
Catherine learned from her friends in the prison system about a new prison in northern California that was being used for the worst of the worst offenders. Usually gang leaders. Nearly everyone in the prison was in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day. Catherine began investigating the prison and found prison conditions did not meet her minimal standards.
Catherine decided to make the prison publicly visible. At the time, no one had heard of it outside the prison world. Catherine visited the prison at monthly intervals. Each time she took people with her, including doctors, lawyers, occasionally journalists but always a poet.
Catherine didn't get any significant articles out of these trips to the prison with visits to inmates but to everybody's surprise, especially to me, the world of poetry became the first to know about this prison. It was from the world of poetry that knowledge of this prisons presence spread.
The prison is at Pelican Bay. You certainly have heard of it, wherever you are in the world. Thanks both to Catherine and the world of poetry. Poetry is surprisingly important.