Doing Time

As I sit alone in my cell

My mind starts to dwell

On the fact that I’m still here

Trapped in my own hell

 

Alone and imprisoned

By my own fear

As I continue my sentence

Year after year

 

My own prison I’ve built

Out of my own depression and shame

Unwilling to forgive

I have only myself now to blame

 

The foundation was laid

From my mistakes and bad choices

Bonded and strengthened

By all the angry condemning voices

 

The walls are built high

Solid and stout

To insure that I never

Climb or break out

 

Though my crimes were not evil

To be punishable by death

Sometimes I imagine it so

That I may breathe my last breath

 

Loneliness and heartache

are two things I know well

along with sorrow and pain

that keep me confined to my cell

 

One day I may be pardoned

and finally set free

from the emotional chains

that are now binding me

 

When that day comes

will I be reformed and made whole

Or in this cell will I stay

another condemned and lost soul

Reviews

[Sarah Saz]

I hear you and can relate to this poem. I too am incarcerated in a prison I built myself. Hopefully you have found some release through your writing.