Surviving Prison

Written by DAWNdada

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As a new writer for Nine5Four Magazine, I have approached D. Francis (C.E.O) with about 84 different crazy ideas and he has supported every single one. This story touches close to home because the inmate is one of my closest friends. In a recent letter from L35033 he sent me a piece of his writing on Surviving Prison:

You’re probably wondering “how do I survive prison without going crazy”. Well, for starters I’m already nuts or as we say in here “a BUG” (so I have that in my favor)!!! But, really I am surviving it the way most of us do by accepting it! I know what you’re thinking, “by accepting it?? Huh?” It’s not the sentence or the authority that was issued I am accepting, but the duration. The sooner you accept the reality, the sooner it passes. Once you’re inside, you can’t fight it (you can, but you can’t win). Now the ones that do suffer everyday that goes by, they pay a toll or two. You can see it in them, they start deteriorating (their mind is killin’ em slowly & painfully). When you start to allow your mind to drift, and analyze about love, hate, or any other emotion towards your sentence or people in the outside world you are torturing yourself slowly. You accept it by not caring. You shut yourself down. You don’t think of the past or future, you don’t think of things that you miss. You really try not to think at all. You have to live every single moment and feel nothing, become 100% emotionless. Mentally you force yourself to go numb (it’s a pretty neat trick) but, physically you’re either strong or weak. There’s nothing you can do except wait patiently for your release date. Did that make any sense at all??? That’s the best way I could put it into words. If you can’t get it now, you’ll never comprehend....

Editor note:

When I first read this story, I was compelled and felt it had to be shared with our readers, not only as the words of an inmate trying to cope with the daily struggles of prison life but as a writer who has a talent for voicing his inner feelings. Not everyone can put into words what they feel or how they manage to make it through life the way they do and to find someone that can express themselves in this manner is a talent in itself. I hope you have enjoyed this short letter from prison. – D. Francis