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

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ISSUE NO. 18

January 2026

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Poetry

Poems by Denis

By

Denis

Denis writes from a prison in VIC.

Pedro Miranda via Unsplash

A Beacon of Joy

Memories arise, an echo's gentle sway,

Circling 'round me, crays of yesterday.

Recalling her smile, so beautiful and bright,

A beacon of joy in the softest light.

Her laughter, a melody, pure and clear,

Resonates within, though she's not here.

A bosom swelled, like creeks in spring's embrace,

Overflowing with love, a tender grace.

In every ripple, her essence I find,

A memory cherished, sweetly entwined.

Her smile, a memory, forever aglow,

Like creeks that swell, and never forego.

A Veil of Clouds

Through the window of my cell, I gaze afar,

Into the mist where dreams and memories are.

A veil of clouds, so soft and yet so vast,

Hides the world, its future and its past.

Invisible they seem, these wisps of white,

A dance of shadows in the pale moonlight.

They whisper tales of what lies beyond,

Of sunlit fields and of the golden pond.

This cell, my confines, cannot hold my mind,

For in the clouds, a freedom I do find.

Each shapeless form, a story to impart,

A canvas vast for the imagination's art.

So let me look, let me dream and see,

In the mist of clouds, I find the key.

To unlock the chains, the walls, the bars,

And sail away to meet the stars.

A Beacon of Joy

Memories arise, an echo's gentle sway,

Circling 'round me, crays of yesterday.

Recalling her smile, so beautiful and bright,

A beacon of joy in the softest light.

Her laughter, a melody, pure and clear,

Resonates within, though she's not here.

A bosom swelled, like creeks in spring's embrace,

Overflowing with love, a tender grace.

In every ripple, her essence I find,

A memory cherished, sweetly entwined.

Her smile, a memory, forever aglow,

Like creeks that swell, and never forego.

A Veil of Clouds

Through the window of my cell, I gaze afar,

Into the mist where dreams and memories are.

A veil of clouds, so soft and yet so vast,

Hides the world, its future and its past.

Invisible they seem, these wisps of white,

A dance of shadows in the pale moonlight.

They whisper tales of what lies beyond,

Of sunlit fields and of the golden pond.

This cell, my confines, cannot hold my mind,

For in the clouds, a freedom I do find.

Each shapeless form, a story to impart,

A canvas vast for the imagination's art.

So let me look, let me dream and see,

In the mist of clouds, I find the key.

To unlock the chains, the walls, the bars,

And sail away to meet the stars.

‘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