Purgatory
Created by Lee Call
Purgatory
Upon my shoulders this burden placed
The world's will forces me to wait
Walls rise suddenly around me
My life is placed on ice
A living death yet I am aware
Somehow time becomes more real,
More profound
Every passing moment is felt deep within my soul
I'm powerless
Thoughts dominate that were once mere whispers
In the peripherals of my mind
They stand now as imposing shadows
Under artificial light
The clock lingers in my awareness
I seek distraction,
Anything to still the chaos within
It's a futile battle
Constant reminders mock me
Purgatory is made of calendar pages
The floors of hourglass sands
Lady justice looms overhead
Scales in hand
Weighing my sins against the lines in my face
And my children's youth
Hope and reality are locked
In an endless war within
Surrender to despair would be easy
But I'm stubborn
I hold fast to the spectre, faith
I place hope in the future because
The past is broken beyond repair
And the present is a void
LC
Lee Call is currently serving a 20-year non-violent sentence. He arrived at Lawton prison determined not to let his time be wasted. From the beginning, he made a deliberate choice: to use this chapter of his life to grow, to learn, and to become someone he could be proud of. Writing became one of the central ways he pursued that commitment. As an aspiring writer and artist, he set goals rooted in his own definition of success—seeking guidance, building skills, contributing something meaningful to others, and finding a community that wanted to see him thrive.
For Lee, writing is both an anchor and an offering. It is how he stays aligned with the man he is becoming, how he builds a future for himself and his family, and how he shares a voice he once feared would go unheard.