An Open Prison

 

There are no bars or barriers of confinement

no striped uniform or alarms which sound an escape

There is not even a building to enclose its prisoners

no chapel or exercise yard to be present to oneself and others

 

The Open Prison can be for a life time sentence

for the place of incarceration is in the mind

Deep inside the cerebral cavity the prisoner dwells

he is utterly alone, dejected and confused

 

No one cares to visit or befriend him

his crimes are well concealed from view

His indictment is self accusation and shame

he peers out on a world he cannot relate to

 

Dark desires and secret urges plague is soul

counselling bears no fruit or rehabilitation

He wants to confess all, to bare his soul

but he is hemned in by guilt and shame

 

He is afraid to make a confession

or sign a statement detailing his thoughts

His cell is in his innermost place

freedom is not an option or an escape

 

Condemned until the final judgement

when all will be exposed and revealed

Then the burden of guilt will be laid to rest

only then will another know his real pain