Institutionalised

i’ll tell you we weren't angels

but what THEY did was wrong

and that that they got away with

so much brutality for so long

how do i tell you that every night

i lay there frozen, rigid with fear

waiting for the door to open

waiting for the machines to appear

machines made of moulded madness

mini men; malignant manifestations of malice and hate

broken cogs in an equally broken system

programmed for and by the state

bruised and sore from the night before

expected to stand straight and tall

expected to take a smack under the ear

and then expected not to fall

an institution sanctioned punch in the mouth

a kick in the guts while you’re down

and woe betide the poor silly sod

whose gaze lifted from the ground

beatings and half rations

and then some more of the same

our reality was a waking nightmare

a nightmare inside a vicious game

punched for the most minor infraction

pushed bleeding way past despair

a couple took the easy way out

their ghosts will always remain there

emboldened with abuse thickened skin

cold of eye and hard of heart

they knew where we were headed

and that this was just the start

i was one of many i’m afraid

and each have similar tales to tell

every single one of us will go to heaven

because we’ve already been to hell

they played games with our minds

half starved and bashed us about

gave us brand new boots and jeans

and THEN they let us out