Awakening around 7am, the wing is deathly silent. Staff quietly make their way around doing a headcount, peeking through the observation panels in the doors.
Slowly, the men around me come to life. Toilets begin to flush. The water pipes that run through each cell begin to judder and squeal as taps are run and sinks are filled. Then the coughing begins. Often this is a manifestation of whichever bug is doing the rounds, but there is a strong undercurrent of smokers coughs interwoven as the first fags of the day are being rolled.
Then the doors are unlocked. Another day.
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I sense you are in that dark and lonely place we all sometimes visit. Be strong, have belief, stay steadfast. The sun will shine brighter when it shines again, and it will. Wishing you peace
ReplyDeleteThis is funny in a tragic comic way. Calling it the dawn chorus really made me laugh. There is plenty of that on the outside too; people waking up and coughing their guts up. I was the same until I gave up. It was the most difficult thing I ever did and the best thing I ever did too. The smoking ban has made many changes to our social lives and is something that prisons are exempt from. People who have been in for a while might find it very strange to get used to when they get out.
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