Day of the Imprisoned Writer

 

Sometimes I imagine what it would feel like to be silenced.

Not the casual kind. Like your comment drowning in a noisy meeting. Or a message that is never delivered. I mean, what would it feel like to be truly silenced:

𝘈 𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥.
𝘈 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥.
𝘈 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵.

November 15 is the 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫.

I think of fellow writers I’ll never meet.

Maybe his notebook has been replaced by blank walls.

Maybe her letters to her child are ones no postman will deliver.

These were people who wrote honestly and paid a price.

As writers, we often take for granted the privilege to share a memory, an opinion, or a small slice of the world as we see it.

𝘛𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘮.

Somewhere, a story is waiting behind iron doors. A question remains unasked because asking it could cost everything.

If you’re reading this, maybe pause for a moment.
✨𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯.
✨𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬.
✨𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

For those imprisoned for their words: 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤. 🫡🫡🫡