Exit

Antarctica, the old salts said was harder to get out of
than into
in the 1970’s and 80’s, fable was fact.
Many,
had always wanted to
yearned, ever since very young
thought it too good an opportunity to pass up.

The reality
was a three star prison
shared accommodation
institutional food
no privacy
very little opportunity for individuality 
restricted movement
permission required for most everything
mail : intermittent and non-priority
phone calls – weekly – 10 mins – booked in advance.

Dreams,
Yearnings,
opportunities –
palled.
Some coped
others moped
suck it up
if not, there were two ways out :

1)
medical diagnosed or self-inflicted –
tricky –
the authorities had seen almost everything before.

2)
an urgent phone call from home –
family illness or emotional crisis
intimacy requires presence. Now.
Difficult to disprove. Impossible to defeat,
just the ticket.