Up the River (Prison Life) (Excerpt‪)‬

The expression "sent up the river" finds its roots in New York penal history. From the early 1800s on, convicted felons from New York City were literally "sent up the river" to Sing Sing, the gloomy penitentiary perched above the banks of the Hudson River at Ossining. My arrival there was July 17, 1985, after receiving a fifteen years to life sentence under New York state's Rockefeller drug laws. To my eyes, when the transport bus stopped in front of the gates, the view of the river was awesome, spreading out from the prison like a smooth, still carpet. The contrast of the natural beauty of the surroundings and the daunting facade of Sing Sing was mind-boggling. Then, once inside, as the bus inched past the giant concrete wall, I looked up and saw gun towers with armed guards. Seagulls circled high above, giving the prison the look of a medieval castle.