Australia's National
Prison Newspaper

Australia's National
Prison Newspaper

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ISSUE NO. 10

AUGUST 2024

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Poetry

You Were Warned

By

Anastasia

Anastasia writes from Southern Queensland Correctional Centre in Queensland.

Daniele Franchi via Unsplash

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Hello to About Time, and all readers everywhere. Sometimes when I'm alone I enjoy writing to try and take my mind from where I am. This is one of the poems. I hope you enjoy! Thanks alot for providing me the opportunity to express myself and my thoughts to my fellow incarcerated people! Keep your head high guys and girls … Let them lock up our bodies but never our minds ... Anastasia SQCC.

If you turn to drugs instead, to silence the villains in your head.

Or to minimise the self harm to your arm, without causing alarm.

We're taught that harm minimisation is best in times of desperation.

When self medication is the only redemption,

To cure our frustration, we turn to injection.

There are other strategies such as turning to melodies

Which can soothe our souls, when our hearts are full of holes.

Maybe you’re weighed down by the guilt,

Through the traumatic memories you've built?

Or the tragedies that occurred, when those lines became blurred.

We simply struggle in silence, or struggle to be heard?

We may lose our freedom, but we still have our word.

So we hold our heads high, even as our children cry,

They lose their mothers, through our loyalty to others.

I don't expect you to care, as it’s my cross to bear.

This is my life, I never said it was fair.

I guess you could call it collateral damage,

The pain we inflict on our family is savage.

Whether you’re in it for the hustle, bustle, the goods or the cash.

Just an addict or user, who got pinched with your stash

Whether it’s stealing or robberies, a hustle or an earn,

Eyes open, mouth shut, is the first rule we learn.

So if you wanna run in our circles, or wanna do the crime,

This may be your fate, and you may get some time.

So live and die by omerta, and if you fail to do so,

Over to the other side is the only place that you'll go.

So next time you cry, wipe away your sobs,

Keep fresh in your mind, that you get that on the big jobs.

If you turn to drugs instead, to silence the villains in your head.

Or to minimise the self harm to your arm, without causing alarm.

We're taught that harm minimisation is best in times of desperation.

When self medication is the only redemption,

To cure our frustration, we turn to injection.

There are other strategies such as turning to melodies

Which can soothe our souls, when our hearts are full of holes.

Maybe you’re weighed down by the guilt,

Through the traumatic memories you've built?

Or the tragedies that occurred, when those lines became blurred.

We simply struggle in silence, or struggle to be heard?

We may lose our freedom, but we still have our word.

So we hold our heads high, even as our children cry,

They lose their mothers, through our loyalty to others.

I don't expect you to care, as it’s my cross to bear.

This is my life, I never said it was fair.

I guess you could call it collateral damage,

The pain we inflict on our family is savage.

Whether you’re in it for the hustle, bustle, the goods or the cash.

Just an addict or user, who got pinched with your stash

Whether it’s stealing or robberies, a hustle or an earn,

Eyes open, mouth shut, is the first rule we learn.

So if you wanna run in our circles, or wanna do the crime,

This may be your fate, and you may get some time.

So live and die by omerta, and if you fail to do so,

Over to the other side is the only place that you'll go.

So next time you cry, wipe away your sobs,

Keep fresh in your mind, that you get that on the big jobs.

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Help us get About Time off the ground. All donations are tax deductible and will be vital in providing an essential resource for people in prison and their loved ones.

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