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About Time is the national newspaper for Australian prisons and detention facilities

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ISSUE NO. 2

August 2024

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Poetry

You Were Never There

Anonymous

The writer is an incarcerated woman who writes from a prison in Melbourne.

You were never there to tuck me into bed

No, you were never there at night when I was scared

Mama, where were you when I needed you most

Mama tell me why all alone I had to cope

The other kids at school, well they all had a mum

The other kids, the other kids all had someone

I never had a close friend, one to call my own

Someone just to laugh with – I always cried alone

When I needed bandages there was no one round

No-one to feed me chicken soup when I was down

Mama you left me, I might as well have died.

Mama when you left me I wonder if you cried.

Then when I got older the emptiness it grew

In every room, in every crowd I was dying to find you

All the endless, empty bars in this empty city

Faceless people on the streets and roads that hold no pity.

Still alone I travelled following the sun

Each time loneliness came to me I’d just up and run

Mama did I do something wrong, tell me was I bad

To make you give away the little child you had.

You were never there to tuck me into bed

No, you were never there at night when I was scared

Mama, where were you when I needed you most

Mama tell me why all alone I had to cope

The other kids at school, well they all had a mum

The other kids, the other kids all had someone

I never had a close friend, one to call my own

Someone just to laugh with – I always cried alone

When I needed bandages there was no one round

No-one to feed me chicken soup when I was down

Mama you left me, I might as well have died.

Mama when you left me I wonder if you cried.

Then when I got older the emptiness it grew

In every room, in every crowd I was dying to find you

All the endless, empty bars in this empty city

Faceless people on the streets and roads that hold no pity.

Still alone I travelled following the sun

Each time loneliness came to me I’d just up and run

Mama did I do something wrong, tell me was I bad

To make you give away the little child you had.

Falling Like Angels

By Daniel

The pain that I feel, this place that I’m in, these four walls closing in…

Creative

ISSUE NO. 23

2 MIN READ

As This Time Comes to an End

By Punkin

As this time comes to an end, I wonder which way the next will bend. The earth and moon will do their thing, I’ll embrace everything.

Creative

ISSUE NO. 23

2 MIN READ

‘God, I Am Deeply Sorry’: A Poem for the Prisoners We’ve Lost

By Triste

To all the prisoners who have ever spent time away from the ones they love.

Creative

ISSUE NO. 23

1 MIN READ

‘Tingers’ and the Squirrel Box

By Sara

In Creative Learning we get to see some amazing stuff made by talented people. The best part is hearing the stories behind how creative projects have come to life.

Creative

ISSUE NO. 23

2 MIN READ

Help Us Keep Publishing About Time

Without About Time, I don’t know where I would be – Mark, from a prison in Victoria

We need your help so that we can print and distribute the paper to every person in every prison for at least the next year. We value whatever you can spare, no matter how big or small.

Australia’s prison population is growing, and our many prisons are spread far and wide.

We need your help so that we can print and distribute the paper to every person in every prison for at least the next year. We need your help to cover postage for anyone who sends us a letter from the inside.

We value whatever you can spare, no matter how big or small.