Fighting Time When You’re Doing Time
In prison parlance, one would say I have been locked up a couple of “minutes.” Here, 10 years is considered a respectable stretch: a “minute.”
Much like having a nightmare while in a coma, there is no waking up to make it end. Sometimes I have looked up to realize that another day has passed, but it was so similar to the previous one—and the one before that, and all the ones before that. The only thing that sets it apart is its number designation on a calendar.
Life Inside Perspectives from those who work and live in the criminal justice system. Sign up to receive "Life Inside" emailed to you every week. Related Stories
I recognize the elasticity of prison time. My desire for it to hurry up and pass causes it to stretch so taut I fear it will snap like a whip on my back, which is already bowed under the weight
