Awaiting Sentence

Awaiting sentence Rubbing shoulders with rapists and thieves, I wait to be taken from my place On a hard concrete bench And positioned at a point a particular distance from innocence. In limbo and anxiously equal with the worst, I clutch at fantasies of sudden reprieve as from a kindly parent. The heavy moments of waiting hang hard on me. My organs are low and cold within. I squirm my buttocks. Discomfort prevails for hours. Pacing alleviates little - floor and motion are merely physical. Time is viscous and the nagging seconds gather behind me Sluggishly adding drag to my passage forward. Blunted, bloated, and floating in thickness I sponge numbly into the dock and hear The sharp-voiced magistrate… Sentence realigns my senses. Recharged with perspective, I absorb the new state of things: Planes of light with bright outlines, Surfaces, shadows, edges and ends…