God in Prison

Another inmate committed suicide in a Mass Correctional Institution.  And this one was in a maximum security facility--inmates are watched 24/7.  This one was also in the treatment facility.  "Suicides in Massachusetts state prisons are occurring at a rate more than four times the national average this year, prompting advocates and inmates’ relatives to call for an urgent response from state officials — and spurring the Patrick administration yesterday to hire a suicide prevention specialist." Link to Boston.com

Listening to the night bell.
I hear some cry and think the end--
this place so cold, and damp, my cell.
A wretch cast into so deep a well--
no love, no hope, no family, no friend.
My lips to heaven plea to send
help of any kind for one who fell
so far down into the jaws of hell.
They call it prayer and I feel it mend
my fear, my loneliness, guilt driven.
Is it true I can be forgiven?
There is a God of mercy and love.
He feels my fear and hears my plea
and responds with absolution and
mercy undreamed of.  He calms my
trembling heart with hope.

Justitia, www.lulu.com, 2006, page 28.