Friday, October 25, 2013

my neighbor is a massive limestone complex, almost 200 years old.  and a prison.  i've written about it for as long as i've shared my life here.  i walk with it daily, along the walls.  and until a month ago, every morning, the 8 o clock bell would swim into our house and find me. filling me a little with the energy and delight to get the day started. the day i realized that it was silent, silenced me.  i sat on the porch and waited for it.  and it just wasn't.  like a heart that stops beating.  the kingston penitentiary closed and decommissioned after 178 years.this week, my friend who works at the museum prison, invited me to tour the prison as her guest. it was an honor to wander through the grounds with my camera.  it's stories and history will undulate endlessly through our little village.  












  

5 comments:

  1. Wow, that is powerful. Haunting.

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    1. posting photos in my blog always proves a complication. because of that i didn't label what you were seeing. it was really beautiful. wierdly, i was giddy.

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  2. They say that every building traps a little echo of all the souls that ever it housed... if those wall could talk I'm sure we would not always want to hear the tales it would tell.

    I have to add though that, architecturally speaking, it is rather stunning... not at all like the dreadful prison buildings you see in most hollywood films... with the exception of Shawshank.

    Thank you for sharing :-)

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    1. you know, angy, i always though that there would be a dark and heavy feeling within those walls. and surprisingly i walked away without noticing anything. and i usually notice!!!

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  3. I wish the 8 o'clock bell wasn't gone. I would feel as if I had lost a friend.

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