Political Prisoners USA and Other Poems by James Madigan is a necessary debut that draws on expansive public and private experiences to create a lamentation for racial and social inequality. The poems are daring and direct, igniting consciousness and conscience.
Madigan recognizes divisions, the fissures in our humanity, and often, the injustices we manifest. Smooth and intimately detailed, this writing calls the reader to action.
“Look to the person next to you. Look them in the eye and say:/I will be there with you—.” The reader can count on a reliable speaker, a poet with a vision, and a mission. “Political Prisoners USA: A poem in five parts,” is the narrative thread that intermittently snaps the reader out of disappearing entirely into reflection. His correspondences with political prisoners creates a dose of reality, a sharp pain in the reader’s side: persecution and incarceration exist. The language Madigan uses in the face of such disappointment is lyrical, innovative, and deeply moving. Where equality may not exist socio-politically, it can exist artistically. In “For Every Person,” Madigan writes, “There was a poem/for former Black Panther Billy Che, / for Nathan a proud gay man, / for Phyllis who loves music/that plays down her spine.” His hard-truth content paired with lyric imagery presents the reader with the dichotomy between ugliness and beauty. He is confident, informed, and careful. Madigan’s commentary about ongoing historical, political, environmental, and personal injustice seem to possess a glimmer. “As we approach the end singing,” Madigan muses in the poem, “Songs for Ceasefire,” “Which Side are You On? / a woman appears offering a platter / of sliced watermelon. / Take some, she says. Eat.”