Pelican Bay Haiku by devorah major

Notes on Torture & Survival

six feet by ten feet
wider than a lead coffin
no natural light

sometimes only darkness
a punishment for surviving
so many shades of black

or weeks of light bulb
days have no rhythm but howls
torture knows no clocks

twenty three hours
every day alone boxed
one hour to breathe wind

will a cloud drift by
a patch of summer blue sky
a black bird’s feather

perhaps tomorrow
arc of sun will show itself
kiss your skin golden