The Ghosts of Mile II Prisons
By MATHEW K. JALLOW, Associate Editor
I saw rusty shriveling skeletons
In those listless silhouettes
Drowning in misery
Where flatulence smells like aroma
And reality exists only in the mind’s bubble
No time to be afraid
Hope dipped in paranoia
The restless ghosts of Mile 2
Narcissism a distant memory
A bearded didactic Mullah
Stole my faith for a moment
Call me Mustapha
If only for a while
Until I escape the misery
Where death rules the night
In this hellhole of Mile 2
Impenetrable steel doors captured my resolve
We are looking for a miracle
Surrounded by an eclectic crowd of mourners
Captive to a nebulous rationale
And a state of morbid disinterest
Abandoned by our countrymen
In this reign of fear
And the ultimate terror of Mile 2
Between the walls they wither away
Memories of Auschwitz and the Gulags
Spell hedonism of an evil mind
Dark dinky halls of pain
Come feast little mosquitoes
Tender skins turned into crocodile leather
Blistering and bloody, and hard to the touch
The painful memories of Mile 2
Had an epiphany one summer day
Nirvana came rising like a mountain
Exhaling the sweet taste of freedom
Owning the night once again
Like kids they giggle and laugh
And innocence lost so long ago
Comes roaring like the ghost of Hamadi Hampateh Bah
In the hearts of Mile 2’s children of mercy
This is a place of misery
Blood stained walls shine a ray of light
Gruesome stories of agony
The nexus of power and evil
Where fickle minds go to die
For once they were vibrant and full of life
Now but pitiful shadows without hope
Praying for a miracle at Mile 2