If this article doesn’t confuse you, all the better, because it sure confuses me, and I wrote it. It’s hard to underestimate how, when leaving prison after 29 years, you are disconnected from the outside world. After a long absence, you cease to exist, in […] See more
A long field covered in brown grass, spreads itself between the prison factory and the cell I live in. For years this field was empty. Today, it has sprung to life. I notice it as I am coming back from lunch one day. There are […] See more
By Colin McGregor $3,770,000. That’s what it cost, in today’s numbers, to keep me in jail for 29 years. I learned that while watching Télé-Québec’s TV show Nos années 20 hosted by the Québec journalist Patrick Lagacé the other day. He had a panel discussion […] See more
Prison is a land without trees. Perhaps for reasons of security, the authorities fear that a tree might hide a prisoner, or serve as a hiding place for drugs and weapons. But we have one tree, a young maple about thirty feet high, alone in […] See more
We had a visit here at The Social Eyes from the Reverend Tim Smart, who works in the prison system as well as having his own outside church to run. Tim was one of my chaplains in jail. Tim brought me a copy of the […] See more
“Can I count on you to do some painting on Wednesday at the Bistro Le Ste-Cath?” By Colin McGregor That’s an approximate translation of the brief courriel that I received from The Social Eyes and Reflet de Société publisher Raymond Viger on May 31st. Our […] See more
It’s a short walk on a warm sunny day. Perhaps 30 meters along a pleasant walkway, all uphill. On either side, green grass; some tall, leafy trees; and some summers, a flower bed. The smell of a fresh-cut lawn. Colors that aren’t all shades of […] See more
I awake in a sweat, dazed and disoriented. I turn my pillow over to the dry, cold side underneath, and think: a few seconds ago, I was walking along Sherbrooke Street on a sunny summer’s day, rummaging through second-hand bookstores. Not now. My eyes adjust […] See more
This happened when I was imprisoned, on a transfer from one jail to another, temporarily in a holding facility for transferees. By Colin McGregor, Prison CFF de Laval Laying on the upper bunk of a 10 x 7 foot prison cell, I was itching like […] See more
Is it possible for a criminal to change? Having established that crime comes from egotism, I launch on my search for the answer to this question posed to me while I was on a community outing during my prison sentence. By Colin McGregor What is […] See more
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