"What You Can Expect If You Go to Prison," by Peter Picard

Welcome to hell. In all forms, prison is the best place to go if you don’t appreciate life. Because once there, you won’t have one. Expect the entire range of fear: little fear, medium fear, and outright terror. Expect to be denied everything at any time. It is not a good idea to anticipate things because there is a good chance that you will not get them. All the food you loved to eat is gone. Denied. If you eat all the food you are given, you will turn into a whale. When asked if you would like to go outside and work off the pounds with weights supplied and you decline, you will become a beached whale. Shaving when you want—denied, Going to sleep when you want, denied. Packages, for unexplained reasons—denied. There are a series of weeks that must go by so that you will remember who you are.And why you are here and why you should be. And maybe come to terms with how time stops and ...moves...slower...than....when... you...were...in...e...l...e...m...e....n...t...a...r....y... school. There are funny times, when the Dorm is quiet and someone passes wind and you hope it’s not you and sad times and times when you try to remember your dreams. What catches in your throat is that you can’t leave, you can’t go home, you can’t hug the children you love. Unfortunately, this is your home. I have to look for things to keep me sane. Writing poetry and a book help tremendously. Actually, a prison would be a great place for writers, because you have timeless times and a minimum of interruptions, to create your text. So if you have to go to prison, decide you are going to be a writer. Maybe you will luck out and they will teach a writing class there.