30/01/2019
Take a deep breath
And settle in for
Another installment
Of life in the slammer:
A fight on the walkway
An overdose on methadone
An inmate bashed and off to the hospital
Like happened to me one time
A 47 day hunger strike
No one knows how it will end
The suboxone trade flourishes
Packets of ‘White Ox’ tobacco change hands
Bank account details are exchanged
Screaming matches
Petty bitching
No one takes their pills
They really should
They trade them
Selling a good nights sleep
And all the while
The library runs
A creative writing competition
So it’s not all doom and gloom
—
The librarian at Alexander Maconochie Centre does an amazing job. She constantly updates the library and collection of magazines, she’ll order books for you if there’s something you really want and she organized a creative writing competition. There were about 25 entries from all over the jail and one of my poems got second place. The prize was a 50 dollar book voucher; I got some Bukowski, some Tim Winton and a book by Sam Harris about free will.
It’s easy to imagine how much reading helps inmates both pass the time and improve themselves. If you’re like me and can’t stand mainstream TV then reading is a lifesaver.. literally! In 6 years locked up I read about 150 books and it helped heal my bruised mind and spirit while curing the inevitable long stretches of boredom.
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