There are so many things to be said...

There are so many things to be said about a life in prison, but most of the time they aren't I have always wondered how it is that a place can hurt a person so much that they just shut down and refuse to speak about it, But that's what prison does.

Prison has a way of taking the life from a person, if it's not prison directly, it is the madness of it. To be raped or beat up so badly you cannot even go eat, to be stabbed because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time... to dip way below your own standards to merely survive... to look at yourself and realize you have lost your pride... so many things that keep you quiet.

To walk around everyday thinking about the people who claimed to love you, but turned their backs on you once you got here.... the one time you really need a friend, you realize that you have no one. That's enough to keep you quiet.

To know your life is worth something, to have the heart to look at yourself and admit that you messed up, to face the consequences for your actions, the most noble thing a person can do, but instead of really trying to help you, you come face to face with a monster who has no pity, a monster who demands your life for your mistake... that will keep you quiet too.

To not know... for those who were never taught to fight for themselves... for those who never knew what they were facing because they were too young, illiterate, or just simple had no understanding of their situation, but years later they do, but it is too late... yep, that will keep you quiet too.

For a person who dies for nothing... a person who lost his entire family... a person who just lost his/her voice because he has screamed since the very beginning, but nobody heard or cared about the noise he/she made... that will keep you quiet too.

But for those of us who know these things... those of us who have felt these things... those of us who have witnessed these things, for us, I have only one question : Why are we so quiet ?

Some things do not need to be said... on second thought, yes they do.

With respect,

Tyree

January 17, 2011