Prison is dangerous. Let down your guard or become too comfortable and you get hurt. The wind carried their chant. An officer on horseback, armed and watchful, would touch the brim of his hat and give a formal nod. Another time and place he might smile in greeting, but we both know he dares not do so now.
Smiles are a weakness in prison.
He did his time as a six-digit number, but was a human being and deserves respect as an individual. As a prison therapist, I was supposed to help him change his life, but he paradoxically helped me change mine. He was tall and slender with skin the color of ebony. He had lived a painful life, and his eyes seemed empty as if his soul had escaped to wander elsewhere. His body was scarred by self-abuse and neglect, and his speech betrayed the early stages of dementia.