“Doing time becomes so much harder when you know you are ready to go but are unable to leave. When I am not writing, I am mostly stuck in my head. Soul-crushing depression is a constant blow from within. The outer blows are the aerial assault-like noises in this place: Guards barking over the PA, men yelling up and down the tier, keys jingling, walkie talkies crackling, gates slamming. Your brain automatically tells you what’s to come next. A guard’s round, a cell search, chow run, med run, count clear. Anxiety squeezes my belly.“

The Marshall Project

November 13, 2019