Echoes

By J.S. O’Keefe

old gray building a mile down the valley 
we’d hear dissonance of false notes floating up
every day 
sometimes into the night
 
slow deep moaning was 
as we surmised
the inmates yearning 
for freedom outside the stubborn thick walls 
of for the beloved ones
or a little time to amble around in the prison yard 
and bathe their faces in the nothing knowing sun
 
during peaceful minutes 
they were singing and playing the banjo
alas the crooning tranquility never lasted long
 
sometimes I imagined Frank’s playing 
among them too
 
gurgled moaning in pain revealed
the guards were roughing up a whole many of them
 
did I hear Uncle Tony’s whining 
once or twice or thrice
 
loud laughter was indication 
the inmates were cracking their best jailhouse jokes 
and yells of surprise when 
an amateur magician achieved to fool them 
with clever sleights of hand
again and again
 
I’d recall Slippery Bill’s card trickery 
back in high school 
 
bullhorn and unending cacophony meant riot 
or brawling altercation 
 
then came ghostly silence
and continued for days and months
 
an entire year passed 
 
they finished each other off 
we concluded 
or an epidemic snuffed them out
 
curious we all were
but none would dare investigate 
or report suspicion 
 
we knew 
if you shoot off your mouth 
show undue interest in slammer issues
your name will be added to the list 
being drawn up since who knows when
only waiting to amass enough candidates 
to fill up a new bastille erected in another valley 
 
then you’ll find yourself inside stubborn thick walls 
longing for the old life misremembered 
till a prison war or the plague
silences you and the other reprobates

J.S. O’Keefe has published several short stories, creative essays and poems in print and online literary magazines. More at his website: https://www.szjohnny.net