Author Information
Vista County jail
I got outta Vista county jail around midnight last night.
They gave me a bus token but it was too late to utilize
or I was too stricken with freedom to care.
I had nowhere to go,
so I decided to walk to where I work.
14 miles later, I collapsed at the front doors.
I waited for my boss to arrive.
I needed a cigarette so fucking bad. 6 days without one. That cell was as close to hell as one can get without a written invitation and a passport.
My cellie was detoxing from a year long meth and fentanyl addiction.
He slept the whole time.
His shit, on 2 separate occasions,
clogged the toilet which I managed to break up with those god awful celery sticks they give you with every disgusting bologna sandwich meal. I couldn't bring myself to shit on someone else's shit. I just laid there listening to the pounding on the doors,
the screams of the young and misguided all night.
Eventually, my boss arrived and gave me a pack of camels
and sent me packing.
He claimed my life was filled with troubles.
I couldn't argue.
I left.
Legs sore and locked.
Feet swollen and bleeding.
I was unkempt and full of hope.
~Ray Strickland
04/22
You Took Us There
Your literary style captured detail, filled the cell around us. You have a gift for prose.
.
Sorry you got six days. Welcome back.
.
~A~
.
A heavy, verbal walk
..in your shoes is offered in your raw, emotive, visual penning that plays out as several acts in a play. Walk accepted by this person, though this write, I know, just a few steps in your journey through consequence, to deserved rebirth, and - I hope - a real opportunity to build a future. Forgiveness is not something our society believes in as much as it should. I pray that your writing will keep you strong through the struggle. All the best.
thank you my friend.
You're very welcome. All the
You're very welcome. All the best to you.