and taken out of our world,
guarded, handcuffed and
shackled, all your clothes
already on your body,
you have no privacy,
no property, no rights.
Locked up, living for years
out of a small bare cell
with a male companion
not of your own choosing,
finally having the time and
freedom to examine your life,
you expand with forgiveness.
Here, reformed and renewed
with a new humility and
appreciation for any gifts
that come to you, unexpected
and refreshing is your finding
of an inner peace.
first published in BEHIND PRISON WALLS Chapbook
also published in Nomad’s Choir
©2011 Bonnie Manion