the price of prison life

Once, there was a time where I thought
prison was an acceptable form of punishment
for the guilty and their wrongdoings; only to find out

The price of the crimes they've committed...
cuts into them deeply each and every day

Cutting deep into the flesh-their wrists bound by handcuffs
its prints branded on their skin
Cutting deep into the bone-when prisoners are threatened w/ violence,
beaten, and forced to the ground; struggling in pain
to scream out loud

Cutting deep into the body-prisoners are fed w/ food
not even fit for a dog; tainted by feces/saliva,
and/or otherwise uncertain waste material pieces.
Prisons that don't give a shit to give the prisoners (our loved ones)
the medical attention they need and deserve!

Cutting deep into the mind- to try to break and take apart
their brains and even damage parts of their psyche-
forced to have no hope, to stop believing, to trust no one else
Cutting deep into the heart- without love, without faith, without family,
without freedom; what else is there...to take away?
What's left but the memories, of what life used to be when you were free!

The price the pay (our loved ones still pay) is the blade
of a wrist-cutter or a shoe-lace around their necks; when hanged
its the constant fights one gets into when provoked or enraged!

The price they pay is nothing but darkness as their eyes
see only black when held up in "the hole"
and are forced to adapt!

The price they pay is knowing the years they spend
behind prison doors...
whatever the crimes our loved ones' committed;
they don't deserve the injustice that lives within these prison walls!

The price is just too high and way too damaging to pay for their crimes...
and knowing how prisons affect their lives;
they know (as well as prisons do), our lives are affected too!
But its our jobs to show the world just how cruel prison life
can truly be and to show them the truth...
that our loved ones should be spared by the tortures hiding inside
the prisons of this world; in hopes that everyone
may bless them with mercy!