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

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ISSUE NO. 5

November 2024

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Poetry

Last Letter

Anonymous

The author writes from a Victorian prison. This is the last page of an actual letter they wrote to their spouse.

'Escaping Cloth' by Allan, 2000, 85cm x 108cm (LBCC.BGG) (Boomgate Gallery)

I'm going to need a shower,

when I get out-

wash this prison off me.

Help me with this, come inside the water with me.

Wash the stink of green off my chest,

my back,

my mind.

Wash this filthy, miserable place

off me for the last time.

Make me clean.

Wipe the slate,

turn the page,

come into my arms and promise

me everything will be ok this time.

Promise me the world-

give me you.

That's all I want,

that's all I ask.

Clean me of this damaged life

and make it right.

And I swear I will do whatever it takes to be a better man.

I swear it.

I'm going to need a shower,

when I get out-

wash this prison off me.

Help me with this, come inside the water with me.

Wash the stink of green off my chest,

my back,

my mind.

Wash this filthy, miserable place

off me for the last time.

Make me clean.

Wipe the slate,

turn the page,

come into my arms and promise

me everything will be ok this time.

Promise me the world-

give me you.

That's all I want,

that's all I ask.

Clean me of this damaged life

and make it right.

And I swear I will do whatever it takes to be a better man.

I swear it.

‘Love is Rebuilding My Life’

By Phillip

There’s irony, hypocrisy, fallacy, a vast ocean of distance to cross. The “saint”, the “sinner”, it’s lunacy, that the ignorant could save the lost.

Creative

ISSUE NO. 22

2 MIN READ

Methfairytale

By Karie

I’m not belle of the ball, not the very least, but we have something in common, I’m in love with a beast. But the beast is not a person but a drug that I call meth, I’ve been talking to myself for hours, I’m running out of breath.

Creative

ISSUE NO. 22

1 MIN READ

Nostalgia

By Dennis

Nostalgia is a gentle haze, a soft and fading, golden maze, where time itself begins to blur, and memory’s touch is sweet and pure.

Creative

ISSUE NO. 22

1 MIN READ

Art From Inside

By Lanie

Our team was blown away by this beautiful painting.

Creative

ISSUE NO. 21

1 MIN READ