Attica Prison Rebellion, September 13th, 1971: No One Speaks for Richard Moore, Murdered Inmate

“Monon Shop 2” by Molly Phalan

It took him ten days to die.

He declined comment for this interview.

His mother huddled in the waiting room.

When he flat-lined, the guards didn’t want to
call a nurse. They couldn’t take their blue eyes off him,
he was too dangerous. They concluded he faked the spasms.

Ed Muskie claimed that some men would rather die
than live another day in America.

Maybe Mr. Moore would disagree
if he was not a shadow. 

Maybe he would nod and clap
if his hands were not gusts
sculpting the towering clouds into dark fortresses.

Paul David Adkins lives in NY. In 2018, Lit Riot published his collection Dispatches from the FOB. Journal publications include Pleiades, River Styx, Rattle, Diode, Baltimore Review, Crab Creek, and Whiskey Island. He has received five Pushcart nominations and two finalist nominations from the Central NY Book Awards.