Tell me of life: living, brotherhood, compassion, understanding, reasons, forgiveness, love.

Tell me of democracy: freedom and rights, equality and justice, dignity and trust.

Teach me about good and evil, rules and laws, right and wrong, truth and falsehood.

Show me hell: frustration, helplessness, hopelessness, anxiety, anguish, loneliness, separation.

Show me control: censorship, surveillance, no privacy, head counts, slave labor, strip searches.

Show me pain and suffering: broken hearts, destroyed lives, human degradation.

Show me toilets in threes—marked: “Men,” “Women,” “Inmates.”

Show me the system: power, bureaucracy, authority, circles and channels.

Show me people who aren’t people but jobs.

Show me cages: locks and guards, walls and doors, chains and bars.

Show me the never ending jangling of keys.

Show me rehabilitation: punishment, brainwashing, torture, propaganda.

Show me psychological tightrope walking.

Show me time: days, months, years, a lifetime.

Show me—I am a prisoner.