HER PRISON NOW.

[dadio]

She heard they’d let him
Out again, his sentence done,
The prison time over, but

That was just the start of it,
The nightmare not undone,
The memories not fled. He’s

Done his time, they said, paid
The price, time to move on,
Start life afresh. She finds even

The start of day an upward
Struggle, the outer world full
Of terror, the nights filled with

Bogeymen and shadows. She
Stares from windows, behind
Curtains, through cracks in

Closed shutters. She recalls all
Too well the stolen sex, his
Physical abuse, the hard

Words he spoke biting her
Ears, drumming her brain,
Again and again and again.

She heard they’d set him free,
All over, time and term, his
Sentence complete, back to

The world, back on his feet.
She has double locked her
Doors and windows and drawn

Curtains on the world outside;
It’s her prison now, locked inside.