Today, the guards made me bleed again. They chained my feet so tight, I could barely move. I bleed through my socks. Last month it was my left ankle. Today it was the right. When I wash, the soap burns like fire. But I have to keep my ankles clean, because I don't have any alcohol or peroxide. Nothing to kill the bacteria or infections. And this place is filthy. I can't remember what it's like to walk as a human being anymore. My cell is so small that I can only take two steps. Anytime I'm brought out, however briefly or infrequently, I have chains on my hands and feet, as well as guards hanging on me. It's been well over 16 years since I've actually walked anywhere. Sometimes I still can't wrap my mind around that. I'm working on my 17th year now. There were times when I thought, surely someone is going to put a stop to this. Surely someone is going to do something. But they never do. Time just rolls on. It's insanity. I'm truly amazed at what they've been allowed to get away with, and for how long. Oh well. There's no good to dwell on it. Either I waste my energy by focusing on things I cannot change, or I conserve my energy and apply it to small things I can change. That's what the I Ching calls the taming power of the small.