A Poem about Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
Everyday I try to wash away the loneliness, but
it doesn’t come off,
I have no choice but to surrender to its pain, to its scoff,
the agony that runs through my veins,
and through the chains locked around my hands and feet,
leaves me incomplete.
I am the outcome of corruption, the tragedy that feeds the trauma that stains
my soul, devours me whole.
I ask for empathy, but my own feelings are empty,
slowly I fade out, due to a shattered life,
feeding what kills me inside,
they refuse what keeps me alive,
I refuse… my own right to remain silent,
but all they care about is confinement.
They display my mugshot like it’s a Michelangelo or a Donatello,
they will never admit fault, they will never let me go.
And why should it matter, I will always be hated by the ignorant.
My incarceration was deliberate,
part of a plan to violate and amputate.
My life is now a concrete cemetery,
each moment is a cold day in January.
Wrongfully persecuted, this system is polluted.
Its tools for change is a mockery to rehab and reform,
while the world revolves, I stand frozen in a hailstorm.
Justice for all is a sick joke, who cares I was used as a scapegoat?
or the misconduct that was over-looked?
My back and shoulders ache from the weight I carry everyday,
how dare you not wear my shoes and tell me it will all be okay!
Who actually cares I’m surrounded by sadism and hate,
when agony and suffering is my fate?
The only thing I fear is the night, that’s when the demons come out to fight.
I wish you were the fly in my cell, so you can see the truth I tell.
My life has been unjustly twisted, hollowed out, a sheep heading to slaughter.
When will the truth be seen, when I die a martyr?
Still, I must traverse through this maze,
even on days I can’t see through the haze and wish for better days.
This is a poem to show I’m still here, I have not yet disappeared.
Please let me know I’m not forgotten, I am not who they declare “rotten”
I’m still here all alone, this is not where I belong, I need help to get back home.
I have no choice but to surrender to its pain, to its scoff,
the agony that runs through my veins,
and through the chains locked around my hands and feet,
leaves me incomplete.
I am the outcome of corruption, the tragedy that feeds the trauma that stains
my soul, devours me whole.
I ask for empathy, but my own feelings are empty,
slowly I fade out, due to a shattered life,
feeding what kills me inside,
they refuse what keeps me alive,
I refuse… my own right to remain silent,
but all they care about is confinement.
They display my mugshot like it’s a Michelangelo or a Donatello,
they will never admit fault, they will never let me go.
And why should it matter, I will always be hated by the ignorant.
My incarceration was deliberate,
part of a plan to violate and amputate.
My life is now a concrete cemetery,
each moment is a cold day in January.
Wrongfully persecuted, this system is polluted.
Its tools for change is a mockery to rehab and reform,
while the world revolves, I stand frozen in a hailstorm.
Justice for all is a sick joke, who cares I was used as a scapegoat?
or the misconduct that was over-looked?
My back and shoulders ache from the weight I carry everyday,
how dare you not wear my shoes and tell me it will all be okay!
Who actually cares I’m surrounded by sadism and hate,
when agony and suffering is my fate?
The only thing I fear is the night, that’s when the demons come out to fight.
I wish you were the fly in my cell, so you can see the truth I tell.
My life has been unjustly twisted, hollowed out, a sheep heading to slaughter.
When will the truth be seen, when I die a martyr?
Still, I must traverse through this maze,
even on days I can’t see through the haze and wish for better days.
This is a poem to show I’m still here, I have not yet disappeared.
Please let me know I’m not forgotten, I am not who they declare “rotten”
I’m still here all alone, this is not where I belong, I need help to get back home.
