Ian Syder

Between bars, the gaps
Hold, in suspension, stories
And with the closing of the gate
And the wait to turn from one chapter to another
...

I just don’t belong. I was set up and I shouldn’t be in here
Be just. I was up set. I shouldn’t, in here and don’t I belong?
Don’t I belong? Set up I was and I just shouldn’t be in here.
Set up was I. In here just I be, I shouldn’t belong and don’t
...

Burglars financing an habit
Tolerated, only just
Methadone methods and
Anti-depressed depressants
...

It could be the skin and the beard
The arrow, in his solo cell, pointing to Mecca
On suicide watch; it’s feared
For his life and the life of all
...

A section of sky: lapis lazuli
Lower down, to the left, a pinprick of light
Up and up, a brighter, lighter blue; see
To the right, a faint trail from an aircraft
...

Categorised by number
And paternal name (as added identification)
Standardised in blue and grey
Characteristically the same: So monomorphic
...

There is a wordsmith on the landing
A few cells up from mine
He has made quite a name for himself
He’s been in a longer time
...

Baring all in a baptism
(Sometime cold, sometime hot, sometime just right)
And to all of the unclean commune
Who wish to come clean
...

Movements create new landscapes
For the time being
Lasting long enough to relate to the novelty
Of the new being
...

An obscure percussion beats an atonalistic tune
Bass conjoins with tenor in variations of la lune
A high C pitches itself against a low range baritone
The liberty cochophony unlocks a G sharp hushed
...

Indistinguishable from
The sound that echoed the block
A voice calls a name (but who?)
Barking out commands to do
...