Picture a convict in an orange jumper.

He sits in shade beneath a banyan tree,

legs lotus- & buddha-like,

a flushed glow around him.

Between his wrists are shackles & a bowl.

I can tell that he has answers:

how to live, love, be both a prisoner &

free. Sage, saint, assassin,

Übermensch, & Everyman.

The cops who come to shoot him kneel.

The crowd thrums with anticipation.

When he speaks, no words come out.

Everyone awakens from a dream.