For more than a week starting in mid-September, Oklahoma’s prisons were locked down. Routines were interrupted as visitation was canceled, classes were put on hold and inmates were allowed to shower only three times per week. They were largely confined to their cells or bunks.

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections put prisons on lockdown on September 15 after fights between gangs at six men’s facilities left dozens of inmates injured and one dead. Though the violence erupted in only the men’s prisons within a 24-hour period, the agency put the women’s facilities on lockdown as well.

Poetic Justice, a nonprofit that operates writing workshops in the state’s three women’s prisons, collected written accounts of experiences women had during the lockdown. Women recorded their frustrations with the lockdown and the “blanket punishment” that they felt DOC handed down to them.

The lockdown at women’s prisons was lifted on September 24, but normal operations didn’t commence until October, 19 days after the lockdown had started.

Women wrote vignettes and poems about missed birthdays, washing clothing by hand and the frustrations of being confined to their cells and bunk beds. One woman noted her mother was dying of cancer, and another wrote about missed visitations.

With the authors’ permission, Poetic Justice collected the writings and bound them into a small, black booklet titled, “Not a number: Locked Down in Prison.”

“For those of us on the outside, it is impossible to understand the trauma an extended lockdown causes. These poems change that,” the first page reads.

[aesop_content color=”#ffffff” background=”#000000″ width=”content” columns=”2″ position=”left” imgrepeat=”no-repeat” disable_bgshading=”off” floaterposition=”left” floaterdirection=”up” revealfx=”inplace” overlay_revealfx=”inplace” aesop-generator-content=”Someone

Someone’s mother was dying of cancer

And someone got their hand slammed in the door

Someone watched

from behind the glass square

of a cell

in a building full of locked cells

Someone missed their

kids

Someone drew pictures

in their mind

of all the places

they will never go

Someone would not sleep

when sleep was all there was to do

Someone tried to push

all the chaos inside them

out into the world

everyone else suffered

while the monster ruled

no escape, no respite.

no sanctuary.

Someone could make it stop

but it went on and on

Someone blinked their eyes

for the 12,653rd time and

stared at the ceiling

Someone turned over

Someone broke a razor to cut

Someone flushed the toilet

Someone wrote a letter

Someone wished for a noodle

Someone threw a book at the wall

Someone yelled

and someone swore

Someone didn’t care

and pretended

they weren’t

Someone watched the clouds

out a window that will never open

Someone was just one person.

“]Someone

Someone’s mother was dying of cancer

And someone got their hand slammed in the door

Someone watched

from behind the glass square

of a cell

in a building full of locked cells

Someone missed their

kids

Someone drew pictures

in their mind

of all the places

they will never go

Someone would not sleep

when sleep was all there was to do

Someone tried to push

all the chaos inside them

out into the world

everyone else suffered

while the monster ruled

no escape, no respite.

no sanctuary.

Someone could make it stop

but it went on and on

Someone blinked their eyes

for the 12,653rd time and

stared at the ceiling

Someone turned over

Someone broke a razor to cut

Someone flushed the toilet

Someone wrote a letter

Someone wished for a noodle

Someone threw a book at the wall

Someone yelled

and someone swore

Someone didn’t care

and pretended

they weren’t

Someone watched the clouds

out a window that will never open

Someone was just one person.

[/aesop_content]

The department of corrections put prisons on lockdown as the agency investigated “gang-related violence,” according to a news release in September. The investigation led to the seizures of several contraband cellphones, weapons and drugs.

The lockdown aimed to stop violence from spreading to other prisons, the released stated.

“This is in no way intended to penalize the thousands of state inmates who did not participate in this violence. We thank their families for continuing to be patient with us as we get to the bottom of what happened and bring those responsible to justice. As soon as we believe it is safe to return to normal operations, we will do so efficiently and safely,” DOC Director Scott Crow said at the time.

DOC did not respond to further questions from The Frontier by publishing time.

[aesop_content color=”#ffffff” background=”#000000″ width=”300px” component_width=”350px” columns=”1″ position=”left” imgrepeat=”no-repeat” disable_bgshading=”off” floaterposition=”left” floaterdirection=”up” revealfx=”inplace” overlay_revealfx=”inplace” aesop-generator-content=”Lockdown Haikus

Chained to my own bunk

Solitary confinement

I’m going crazy

Sleeping all day

Lazy ball of nothingness

#Braless, yes

-Autumn”]Lockdown Haikus

Chained to my own bunk

Solitary confinement

I’m going crazy

Sleeping all day

Lazy ball of nothingness

#Braless, yes

[/aesop_content]

Stackable said during the lockdown volunteers wrote encouraging letters to women who participated in Poetic Justice workshops.

“We knew it was going to be really rough,” she said.

Stackable started Poetic Justice in 2014 with a writing class at the Tulsa County jail. Since then, her team has launched weekly classes at Mabel Bassett Correctional Center, Dr. Eddie Warrior Correctional Center and Kate Bernard Correction Center. And this year, the nonprofit launched classes in jails in San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico.

The women’s writings from the lockdown are a “unique opportunity for the outside world,” Stackable said.

“I don’t think anyone who’s working with women in correctional facilities has the kind of access and stories we get,” she said.

[aesop_content color=”#ffffff” background=”#000000″ width=”content” columns=”1″ position=”left” imgrepeat=”no-repeat” disable_bgshading=”off” floaterposition=”left” floaterdirection=”up” revealfx=”inplace” overlay_revealfx=”inplace” aesop-generator-content=”Worst Lockdown Ever

Blanket punishment for things undeserved

Doors slamming in my face

Washing my laundry by hand for a week

Sneaking around like a ninja just to shower, while

Kicking myself for taking such a huge risk

Then laughing at it being a risk in the first place

Missing my loved ones and realizing how truly

Blessed I am

Writing letters that needed written years ago

Bringing any kind of condiment to chow because that’s all i have

Left in my locker

Thanking God for having a bunkie that made sure I had coffee,

Even if it was kitchen coffee

Organizing and cleaning everything in my room

Getting screamed at by guards for literally stopping on my way in

To pick flowers

Taking numerous people down from a fight in hope our

Lockdown would be lifted “]Worst Lockdown Ever

Blanket punishment for things undeserved

Doors slamming in my face

Washing my laundry by hand for a week

Sneaking around like a ninja just to shower, while

Kicking myself for taking such a huge risk

Then laughing at it being a risk in the first place

Missing my loved ones and realizing how truly

Blessed I am

Writing letters that needed written years ago

Bringing any kind of condiment to chow because that’s all i have

Left in my locker

Thanking God for having a bunkie that made sure I had coffee,

Even if it was kitchen coffee

Organizing and cleaning everything in my room

Getting screamed at by guards for literally stopping on my way in

To pick flowers

Taking numerous people down from a fight in hope our

Lockdown would be lifted [/aesop_content]

Those interested in Poetic Justice’s “Not a Number: Locked Down in Prison” can get more information on where to find it here.