About the Poetry Blog
The poets featured on this page are currently incarcerated, and many of them are in federal prisons far from home. Your feedback is a valuable source of motivation and connection to the outside community. These messages will be passed on directly to the author. Comments may not appear immediately on the site, as our team processes them to mail to the poets.
Click on the poem title to open it up, and then post your comments, feedback, and encouragement in the space below the poem.
Untitled
By VC
Sit in a cell 24/7/365 and tell me if you can think straight
Boxed in/locked in/no family/no friend
Just a beginning/no end/can’t breathe/no air
Mind gone with the wind/aging fast/seeing the skin peel
Seeing the hair turn grey/seeing where was once a smile
Turn to despair/dying from thirst/drinking your own tears
Knowing it can’t get no worse/bags below the eyes
You hear that soothing voice/let it out/for everybody cries
Exceeded Doubt
By MR
When they said I couldn’t, I did…
When they said I wasn’t enough, I became more than what they expected…
When they said it was over, I told them this is just the beginning…
When they told me I had potential, I showed them absolute greatness…
Just when they started to believe, I was already years into believing in myself…
Because they expectations never mattered enough to stop my dreams from becoming the very reality I’ve created…
So when they ask how you done it, smile and tell “them” that’s for you to know, and for them to find out.
On the Same Page
By JA
When I read, I’m alive not dead
The words tell me so much I’ve read
On the page, I’ve met the other travelers
On the page, I’ve been to the favelas
On the page, I’ve felt heartbreak, elation, scorn
I read to learn, move on
When I read, I feel alive, not dread
When I read I know where to head
When I meet you on the page, I smile, nod head in acknowledgement
When I write I use plenty emotion
My words express whatever mood I’m in
I want you to understand my position, my thoughts
Hear me out let me in on this paper
My pen will talk
I write to tell you what’s inside
When I write, I feel, know I’m alive
When I write, you know my objections, you honor my war cries
When you meet me on the page, you also might smile
The Tears I Cry
By DWS
Look in my eyes
& you’ll see the tears I cry
As I lie back on my bed
The vivid memories of my family
& I flow through my head, I’ll be a liar
If I say, I didn’t see this coming
Growing up in the city of D.C
Wasn’t always peaches & cream for me
I was always told by many I’m worthless
& would never amount to anything
Many nights I’ve set in the dark
Wondering if there was someone
There who could heal my broken heart.
My father was never there
So my mother had to do it alone
Struggling just to make ends meet
Raising 6 kids in a 3 bedroom home
To see my mother do this taught me that
Women are very strong, & I praise her
Every day for not leaving me alone
That’s why it hurt me
Because I never got the chance to truly thank her
& say goodbye because I was sitting in an 8.10 cell
When she died, just the thought of it
Brings tears to my eyes
Now look at me & tell me
Can you see the tears I cry
The people I thought loved me
1 by 1 all started to dissipate
& I realize they were never there for love
It was just the material things & again I find myself
Feeling alone like I once did before
& I yearn for my heart to be healed once more
But the biggest pain of all makes
Me feel ashamed & weak so much so
That I catch myself crying in my sleep
& that’s knowing I’ve abandoned
My children as my father did &
Becoming him was something I never
Thought I’ll be. Wondering will they
Hate me like I hated him makes
Me shiver in fear from limb to limb
The black white walls of my cell
Turns into a movie screen
& the memories of my past become
My mental pain
I start to feel my eyes water
& then the tears flow
& I think to myself
When will my pain go
Inshallah it’s soon
But, I have to remain patient
Until I come to know
Although people see me smile
& laugh a lot
I often wonder if they can also
Look at me & see
The Tears I Cry
Smile
By GD
I was still a juvenile and convicted as a child
Though sentenced as an adult
But still I smile…
I think about my reality and realize just how real it is
Then I laugh….
I don’t laugh because it’s funny
But because its “funny” how a young black man could
So easily succumb to his environment
But still I grow…
I’ve come to know many things, dreamed many dreams
All while living a nightmare
But still I ponder…
I’ve created wonderful things once I considered my intellect
As a key to unlock the box my mind’s been in for years
So now I know….
Though life has its adversities, and sometimes it can
Be a tremendous burden
I still got to walk that extra mile
Even if my feet are hurting
So, I’ll continue to smile….
Growth
By SU
My vision was obscured from
the blood in my eyes.
So, I used that to write my notes
down in red, I transcribed…
Yet I’m alive, heart almost numb,
seeking an escape route from this
oppression and feelings of opprobrium…
For he or she who has no reform is lost,
being acumen has no real cost.
Striving, living, possibly
and hopefully forgiven…
I stood alone, lonely,
the phonies had so much acrimony…
That alone made me strong
knowing that obligation was to
the most high…growth.
Forgiving Myself
By TG
At times I wonder, can I forgive myself?
My past self would say, “If not you who else?”
I want the courage to make vulnerable my heart
But
When I look up I see neither sun or moon, only the dark
Inside my heart I hear screams of sorrow and pain
My heart desires the comfort of the rain
But
My circumstances blotch my skin with stain
Forgiveness is wealth that inspires spiritual health
So my sickness makes hard to say, “I love myself.”
I Write
By AL aka Black Messiah
I write to mentally open
the eyes of the blind,
for the “love” of all people
so no child is left behind.
I write for single mothers and
fathers struggling to get by,
for the ones battling addiction
and the urge to get high.
I write for those who vote
and hope for change,
for the homeless vets on the
corner begging for pocket change.
I write for the women not
allowed to read or write,
for the individuals who can’t
see past black and white.
I write for the children just
wanting a safe place to play,
for the parents who wait by
the phone and pray.
I write for all races no
matter what you’ve been through,
so, when they ask why I write
I tell them for you.
Beef
By DJ
Beef
I had plenty of it while growing up
And ate so much one time I ended up throwing up
I’ve lost family members to it because I wouldn’t budge
Not realizing a hamburger shouldn’t hold a grudge
The definition of this word is not fit for our task
Even though we use it to hide behind our masks
To understand my view of beef you would have to be a contrarian
Because I would pray for all of my friends to be vegetarian
Finally, sometimes this meat consumes us all
I can hear anyone else’s story and understand their fall
I control my thoughts and actions now that I understand
And beef when it is rancid will no longer dictate my plans
Home Sweet Home, Right?
By KW
I thought after Medgar Evers, there’d be no more fear
In her home she knew she was safe!
I thought after Emmett Till, we shook up the world
In her home she knew she was safe!
I thought after Fannie Lou Hamer, we were done being sick and tired
In her home she knew she was safe!
I thought after Eric Garner, we would breathe a breath for relief
In her home she knew she was safe!
I thought after “Bloody Sunday,” Brother John woke up America
In her home she knew she was safe!
I thought after Dr. King, there’d be a “Table of Brother-Hood” in a nation
whose people are colorblind
In her home she knew was safe!
I thought after Aretha Franklin, falling in love with ourselves just as we are … is natural
In her home she knew she was safe!
I thought after Dorothy Heights, greatness is not measured by what a man or woman accomplishes
But by the opposition he or she has to overcome to reach his or her goals
In her home she knew she was safe!
I thought after Sean Bell, before 1 bullet would be sent at least 4 or 9 words would be spoken
In her home she knew she was safe!
I thought after Philando …Damn.
In her home she knew she was safe!
I thought after?
I thought after?
And that’s the problem!
How many more “Again?” until it ends?
Under our flag we are created equal
How many more “I thought after’s” until
Respect is giving to our flag?
We are killing our own people?
While wearing the flag
Our flag is a symbol of security
Stop killing our people!
Respect the flag, because
In her home she knew she was safe.
God Help America
I dedicated this to another American, Atatiana Jefferson, who was unarmed and killed in her home by a rookie police officer. Again?
Weapon of Choice
By MR
My mom’s once told me, “Son drop the gun and pick up a pen…”
And let your words become a weapon that’ll demonstrate
positivity amongst both women and men…
So I began to express my pain and disregard
my insecurities and shame…
Because I soon understood, being myself wasn’t a façade,
but a position of change…
So I no longer encourage violence when there’s a glorifying truth in talent…
Within the message to obtain balance and orchestrate proof
that will conquer the challenge…
That we face every day in modern society…
The system was designed specifically to degrade convicted felons,
so nobody would hire me…
However, I chose to remain clever…
Because resilience became an evolutional guidance that created
opportunities beyond measure…
So if my words can somehow inspire those who are lost to find
their truth and desires…
Then the sacrifice was worth me weaponizing my thoughts
instead of picking up a gun to fire …POW
Dear Self Respect (Part II)
By KW
I’m sorry I’ve made you feel neglected,
Unwanted, and disregarded.
I’ve treated you as though you didn’t matter.
As though you were lent?
I brushed you aside.
My pride I hide to ensure your position,
As the foundation of my decision-making.
You spoke.
I heard.
The heart listens.
Together – you’re right – we are unstoppable.
Thank you for your commitment.
Even in the face of my betrayal?
Your belief in our unity never fail.
I’ve held on too long to worthless, destructive,
And unproductive beliefs.
Pursuing expensive “wants,”
When you were enough for cheap.
So I acknowledge your rightful place in my life,
And vow to never abandon you twice.
Sincerely,
Me