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

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ISSUE NO. 9

April 2025

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Poetry

Boredom

By

Bukks

Bukks writes from Loddon Prison in Victoria.

‘What a Waste of Time’ by Brian, 2018, acrylic on canvas, Boom Gate Gallery

Here we are again, this day is just the same as last,

I've done all I can do and yet it seems no time has passed.

Staring at the ceiling and I'm staring at the floor,

Been sitting here for ages and I'm staring at the door.

I've been walking around in circles, I've spent too long sitting down,

It's like that I am searching, but there's nothing to be found.

I slept in half the morning, now I'm back lying on the bed,

My eyes are sore from being shut, a headache's in my head.

There is nothing on the TV and I cannot cop the adds,

There is nothing more to talk about, when I am with the lads.

All my music I have listened too, at least a hundred times,

I have rapped my brain out, I'm completely out of rhymes.

I can't drink no more coffee, I can't eat no more food,

It is so bloody boring; I can't change this attitude.

All the good books I've read, I can't seem to get another one?

There is so little to do, my mind is turning numb.

What is there that I can do, to help me pass the day?

If anyone's looking for me, tell them to “go away”.

There is nothing they will tell me, that I don't already know,

There is nothing we can do today: there's nowhere we can go.

I hate the bloody weekend, there is just nothing to do,

All the thrill is gone what's left is just the residue.

I do not even see the point in being let out the cell,

As soon as the door cracks open, boredom I can't repel,

Every now and then I get a visit, but this weekend I don't have none,

Would you be surprised if I say, “times like this I wish I had a gun?”

You think you're bored, you don't know shit, until your freedom’s taken,

The monotony of prison's something that cannot be mistaken.

Especially on the weekend when there's nothing going on,

Getting through it's just as tough as if you were running a marathon.

I'm so bloody bored that it may cause fatality,  

Boredom for over a decade now, I'm bored and I'm not free!

Here we are again, this day is just the same as last,

I've done all I can do and yet it seems no time has passed.

Staring at the ceiling and I'm staring at the floor,

Been sitting here for ages and I'm staring at the door.

I've been walking around in circles, I've spent too long sitting down,

It's like that I am searching, but there's nothing to be found.

I slept in half the morning, now I'm back lying on the bed,

My eyes are sore from being shut, a headache's in my head.

There is nothing on the TV and I cannot cop the adds,

There is nothing more to talk about, when I am with the lads.

All my music I have listened too, at least a hundred times,

I have rapped my brain out, I'm completely out of rhymes.

I can't drink no more coffee, I can't eat no more food,

It is so bloody boring; I can't change this attitude.

All the good books I've read, I can't seem to get another one?

There is so little to do, my mind is turning numb.

What is there that I can do, to help me pass the day?

If anyone's looking for me, tell them to “go away”.

There is nothing they will tell me, that I don't already know,

There is nothing we can do today: there's nowhere we can go.

I hate the bloody weekend, there is just nothing to do,

All the thrill is gone what's left is just the residue.

I do not even see the point in being let out the cell,

As soon as the door cracks open, boredom I can't repel,

Every now and then I get a visit, but this weekend I don't have none,

Would you be surprised if I say, “times like this I wish I had a gun?”

You think you're bored, you don't know shit, until your freedom’s taken,

The monotony of prison's something that cannot be mistaken.

Especially on the weekend when there's nothing going on,

Getting through it's just as tough as if you were running a marathon.

I'm so bloody bored that it may cause fatality,  

Boredom for over a decade now, I'm bored and I'm not free!

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By Garth

A sweet treat using buy-up staples.

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Tired from being told what to do. I am tired of love, tired of being deemed guilty, tired of my own remorse. I am tired of my own self-doubt, my own shadows and especially tired of my own face.

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Hate’s a strong word, but for you it’s reserved. I hate what you’ve taken from me, my parents, my childhood and my glee.

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My blue eyes look so drained, but I’m strong, I’ll make it through.

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