Solitary Confinement

She hears the fortified door slamming behind her heavy metallic the bolt slides, the door a beast with lock jaw.
Plunging her into darkness, laying face down on the cold hard floor.

Footsteps echo away,
                                Footsteps echo away,
Silence remains in the airless dungeon.

She takes deep breaths of stale air into her lungs, coughing violently
Swallowing blood, a busted lip, while traitorous tears sting release, falling silently.

Eventually… she moves
Body screaming pain in her bruised ribs protest she hisses, teeth clenched. Sitting up facing the beast. Anger seething through her veins.

Leaning against a cold damp wall she slowly looks up, through the blur in the muggy darkness eyes adjusting,

To the harshness
                      of the damp-stone-walled-purpose-built-basement, banned by the state… the cell of Confinement.

Solitary, she soldiers strength using the slimy wall for balance, shaky on her legs she stands. Exhausted she wipes the tears from her bruised cheek with the back of her right hand.

Defiant to the confinement, she will not lay down, sit or cry she stands straight and approaches the beast with sure footed feet.

“Bastards you’ll pay!” she yells into the beast’s dirty surface, deafening herself in the oppressing room the words echo,
                        Echo and bounce,
                              b   
                                        u        c
                                   
                                    o        n          e over the stones

“Can’t none of you hold me down! You hear me, none of you” she punches the beast shooting pain up her hand, down her arm; over her chest pain encircles her body.

The sound metal punched by flesh surrounds her almost as deafening as the pounding heart beat in her ears.

In the distance male laughter one, two, three… male voice boxes, vibrating Adam apples shaking releasing low laughter.

That reverberates across airspace and penetrates the beast entering the ear drum of the young woman.

She punches again and again until she harbours no more strength and the pain is too great. She cradles her hand and leans against the opposite wall.

She hears shouting, a loud sobbing; a female voice to her left through the dense wall the next door cell,

Confronting her demons in the darkness, no doubt,

Must be her, her… the former enemy in the lunch queue, who challenged and sparked a mini riot,
Minutes past, maybe hours, the sobbing the crying, was cut short by the male voice outside the door,

A beast holding back a monster.

“Shut up bitch or we’ll give you something to cry about”

And this she knew held no doubt, no doubt.

Minutes past

The room seemed smaller the door not so thick, the walls paper thin, next door the dead bolt opened the beast creaked in defiance, falling to hold back the monsters

As footsteps echo towards,
                                              Footsteps echo towards
Screams filled the airless dungeon

She takes deep breaths of stale air into her lungs, sobbing uncontrollably
Swallowing anguish, anger, guilt, pain while honest tears sting releasing, falling silently

Eventually… she screams

“Stop it please! Leave her alone”

Solitary confined in the basement of the prison industrial complex

She fell heavily to her knees and wept.