There are many types of torture,

There are many types of torture, Ways to twist, pain, alienate, and cause despair Even the tantalizing expectation of some yearning fulfilled This, too, could and indeed can be called torture — Yet, it is the depravity, the withholding, and infringement Of acts done out of malice, intentional and knowingly Evoking hurt, agony, anguish, imparting helplessness Via dominance, oppression, suppression, isolation, fear - Emotional, mental, and physical degrees of degradation Some impacting an individual more so than another Considering, set and setting, at any given time One or combination of such purposeful attempts to illicit A response, sometimes bent on acquiring information, other times Power — evil taking form, overshadowing the humanity of the aggressor Be it binding, tying up in restraints, holding captive, blindfolding Placing a sac over one’s head, cuffing, chaining, hanging, and suspended Weighting down, burying alive, up to the neck, enclosing behind Exposing to elements, starving, deprivation of sleep, made to stand Water boarded, choked, slapped, pushed, punched, kicked, lashed, and whipped Cut, disfigured, maimed, burned, broken, beaten, raped, and violated — again and again and again... But, what of making one witness the construction of a prison, another House of Correction While made to reflect, locked in a steel and concrete cell narrow enough as to touch both walls Knowing that there is no hope, only degeneracy, compounded, exacerbated by warehousing The mentally ill, the addicted, and afflicted — to infect and fester, wounding one another all the more Broken nonetheless, the system erects yet another ineffective expression not focusing on the problem Creating jobs, for sure, assuring that beds will be filled, a blind eye is turned, dumb to the damage A public disservice, indeed, while all the more poignant for the subtle legislative passage of bills Decreeing that in the midst of corruption does the bureaucratic arm hail its own genius for seeing profits As hearts are broken, minds shatter beyond redemption, for it is humanities soul that is held throttled, breathless Standing in the sun, behind bars, wind blowing, construction booming, radio playing songs of freedom... Can this picture be painted as anything but another method of tyranny, lost to the cost of progress Which in truth’s reflection reveals itself to be regression, depression, and the downfall of man Into the blue sky, clouded by obscured visions of a man witness to the demands of the machine For fodder, laid bare is a citizen's dream, who is tortured by the knowledge that in name only Is the Department of Corrections, serving a wholly different purpose than that of protecting us — lnstead we are victims of our own voracious greed and willingness to sacrifice one another for a dollar Under duress, I sign, witness to a new manner of inflicting the deepest of wounds, long lasting Trauma in the way of being hammered without skill, still the dross falls away, and if nothing else, I am refined Made to endure, overcome, rise above, cast off, and confront the heinous assault on consciousness I am obliged to confess and hold confident against the onslaught of such machinations — organically I supersede Living breathing incarnation of divinity calling an end to this demoralization of the existent creature populace Made to thrive and make alive the wonder of Creation via surrender to the glory and wonder of being Free me and all my fellows, break down the walls and release our love that we as One Human Family may heal. Mathew Lucas Ayotte April 15”‘, 2019