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.
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Surrounded/Rodeado
By LV
Surrounded by concrete walls.
Surrounded by an immense feeling of solitude.
Surrounded by concrete walls that don’t distance me from reality.
Surrounded by one-thousand-and-one dreams – that are kept away in prison cells.
Rodeado por paredes de concreto.
Rodeado por un inmenso sentimiento de soledad.
Rodeado por paredes de concreto que no me alejan de la realidad.
Rodeado de uno-y-mil sueños frustrados – que en celdas de prisión están aguardados.
Surrounded by concrete walls.
Surrounded by an immense feeling of solitude; that attacks my thoughts.
Surrounded by concrete walls, surrounded by a strange feeling that starts playing inside my head.
Surrounded by concrete walls, where you only hear the voice of solitude; that sings to my heart to the slow beat of a tormented heart.
We keep on walking through the valley of solitude.
Rodeado por paredes de concreto.
Rodeado de un inmenso sentimiento de soledad; que ataca a mis pensamientos.
Rodeado por paredes de concreto dentro de rodeado por extraño sentimiento que comienza a jugar dentro de mi cabeza. Rodeado de paredes de concreto donde lo único que se escucha es la voz de la soledad; que le canta a mi corazón al ritmo lento de un corazón atormentado. Seguimos caminando por el valle de la soledad.
Surrounded by concrete walls.
Surrounded by one-thousand-and-one problems.
Surrounded by an immense feeling of solitude, that flirts with my heart in the darkness of the night; and it invites to dance to the slow beat of a tormented heart. We keep on traveling the most traveled road.
“The road of forgotten.”
Rodeado por paredes de concreto.
Rodeado de uno y mil problemas.
Rodeado de un inmenso sentimiento de soledad, que le coquetea a mi corazón en la obscuridad de la noche, y lo invita a bailar al ritmo lento de un corazón atormentado.
Seguimos caminando, recorriendo la calle más transitada “la calle del olvido.”
Surrounded by an immense feeling of solitude.
Surrounded by concrete walls, where the voice of solitude is the only thing you hear.
Surrounded by one-thousand-and-one memories of the past.
Surrounded by one-thousand-and-one frustrated dreams — that are trapped in prison cells.
Surrounded by an immense feeling of solitude, that attacks my thoughts.
We keep walking through the valley of solitude.
Rodeado de un inmenso sentimiento de soledad.
Rodeado de paredes de concreto, donde la voz de la soledad es lo único que se escucha.
Rodeado de uno y mil recuerdos del pasado.
Rodeado de uno y mil sueños frustrados que en celdas de prisión están atrapados.
Rodeado de una inmensa soledad, que ataca mis pensamientos.
Seguimos caminando por el valle de la soledad.
Comfort Zone
By GD
I cannot roam outside of my comfort zone
For I’m only comfortable within my skin
See, being lock down in a pen creates a new set of rules when it comes to comfort
For about 20 years now, my comfort zone’s been inside my dome
Only in my mind can I seek to stay in bounds
You know, the realm of true comfort lies in sanity
Anything outside of that is “INSANITY!”
I can only hold on to what’s in my head
Only to realize that I’m holding on by a thread
They try to force me out of my comfort zone
But I can side step with the best of them
As long as I keep my head in the game
I’ll always be ahead in the game
My comfort zone cannot be breached
It is guarded by the strongest of walls
Though I’m trapped behind the tallest of walls
I remain in my zone
And I find solace in my dome
You can create the most uncomfortable circumstances
And I’ll remain standing…in the zone of my comfort
Because my comfort zone is in my dome!
13
By GL
13
The number is
13
Amendment
13
I’m offended by
13
Co-defendant of
13
Convicted by
13
Let me hip you to
13…
Mass incarceration
Across the nation
In 1865
We was granted
Emancipation
Slavery was abolished
According to my
Knowledge
I learned this while in
Prison
They it the
Black man’s
College
The issues that’s at hand
Enslaving the black man
They freed the black man
Then issued their
Back plan
That was
13
Amendment
13
Abolished slavery unless
Convicted
That’s their scheme
Listen…
I know my opposition
No 40 acres
No mule
No home
No pot to piss in
No justice
Just cuff us up
And f*** us
Go in front of the judge
No liberty
It’s
“Just us”
Throw away the key
Then thrown into a cell
We pray
To a white Jesus
To free us
From white hell
13 amendment
I’m
Truly offended
They strategically reinstated
The same s*** that they
ENDED
Potential
By AG
My potential is to be successful
To be a better father
To not be bothered what other people say about me
To always keep my mind free
Free of insecurities
Free to spread my wings
Free to sing
My potential is to be free
To be the Real Me
To work for a successful company
To pay bills to make ends meet
My potential is beyond what I now see
Prison cells and white concrete
To make it back to the streets
My potential is to be a normal American
To open doors to inner city kids
Suffering from poverty
That’s my potential
To Those
By AC
To those who find peace in times of war;
Who find love within their hearts
even in times when it may feel
like there is nothing more than hatred in this world;
Who find wisdom among blinding confusion;
Who find the True Value of this life
before finding the value of a coin;
To those who smile when they should be crying;
Who look up when they are down;
Who find gain when everything’s been lost;
For those who feel the joy bubbling inside
and forget about the pain that haunts us every night;
For you, don’t you ever even try to give up,
keep moving forward and never look back,
because when the true heroes of humanity are counted,
you my friend, you are one.
About this poem: There is good in all of us. Some of us just have to dig a little deeper for it. But everyone is capable of being and doing good, no capes or tight pants needed.
I Am
By BB
I am because I am alive
I am because I have suffered and still survive
I am because I see the light
I am because I am one with mankind’s plight
I am because I feel
I am because I hurt and I heal
I am because I exist
I am because I stand up to oppression and resist
I am because I am a human being
One who felt and seen many a thing
I am because I am here
I am because I love and I care
I am because I make mistakes
To become better I am doing whatever it takes
I am because I am not perfect in my doing
Many failures have resulted in the goals that I am pursuing
I am because I keep on trying
I am now but one day I will be dying
I am because I came and went
I am because when I left the earth I left my footprint
I Sing
By DJ
There is no air under my wings
But I sing to the sky
Praying 5 times
And I never ask god why
I had friends and family
But time ended
There is no air under my wings
But I sing
I sing
I give a ring to a woman who was in need of a king
To me she was like a beautiful thing
Time ended it
And yet I sing
I sing
Untitled
By TG
Why must I fade away
Why must I rest today
Why must there be a price to pay
Why must I kneel to pray
I find my justice on the street
From your wallets come my meat
Abandoned buildings where I sleep
Paper boxes give me heat
Do you see me with your eyes
Even though you pass me by
Humiliation tries to hide
Embarrass figures of our lives
When you see me you will speak
When I ask for change to eat
A lonely figure in cold
Outcast member from the fold
Hold my shame out with my hand
Fractured woman broken man
Me and Jim Crow
By PJ
Twenty years in ADX.*
I’m asked, a lot, one question:
How long have you been here?
First, let me tell you something I know:
(Feared, is the unknown;) it is the confined person’s ghost.
When I was told: “the short trip,”
I couldn’t wait to get with “it”;
to act a fool.
For two decades, really, I haven’t moved.
It seems: I’m going in circles, but before
you jump to conclusions, understand: basically,
we all (are going in circles). Some big,
some smaller than others; we live by: clocks.
The earth revolves around the sun; I crossed a lot.
Administrative Maximum is a microcosm of society.
All the problems, symptoms, epidemics in our cities
are gathered here (again), interacting.
What wasn’t solved there,
resurfaces here.
It’s an environment where: you’re constantly
fighting insanity.
That, accompanied with: maintaining your safety
and trying to stay alert.
As an African American today,
in the Criminal Justice System, ADX,
has been a way to search: myself.
As many things here, the inside becomes: meshed,
in adaptation with outside forces.
(Weakening, or strengthening, building, or destroying.)
Sometimes what we consider: a curse,
can be: a road (a beginning), a door; our cure.
In the Era of Mass Incarceration,
as an African American,
I feel: very much, like a commodity;
as I come to the realization: (monetarily),
others have “set-up,” (taken liberty),
to map-out what they feel is: my destiny.
(A rightful place) as they gain. From a
long ago, enacted (scheme) to hamper the slave.
As with The United States Penitentiary, ADX, now I know:
(That scheme) has become known
as: Justice, Criminalization, Incarceration, The New Jim Crow.
*ADX refers to a maximum security federal prison. Everyone incarcerated there is held in solitary confinement.
My Life Line
By VL
Dedicated to my beautiful niece Ana
It’s an honor to be your uncle
And a blessing to receive your love through your drawings,
Whenever I need some joy in my life
It’s you that I always think of.
Spiritually, you’re always in my prayers
Emotionally, you’re the blood that pumps my heart,
Mentally, you’re constantly in my thoughts
And physically, is the only way we’re apart.
Since the day my sister Nina had you
I’ve loved you like no other,
Well, one other person loves you as I do
And that would be your mother.
It’s always delightful to receive a picture, or drawing
From you and I think I know it will be astonishing when I
See your pretty face close up, I love when your mom
Sends me pictures of you, and from the look of things
In your pictures, you’re growing up quick ☺
You’re the most precious person in my life and I’m
Proud of all that you do,
You bring infinite joy to my days and nights in
Prison, especially when you say to me “I love you.”
Jim Crow
By JS
A Nation divided by frustration.
From racism, slipknots in a noose
Resulting in Asphyxiation.
Just from looking…at a woman that’s Caucasian.
I now know that liberty for all is a fraud,
And the symmetry dividing a friend and enemy
Is the line between the grave of a slave
And a “white” man’s ideology.
Like biology, I learned to dissect through
The flesh of a frog’s false reality,
That it can live in freedom
In protection of nature.
But like me
(Emmett Till)
He’s captured
For a tortuous experiment
Caused by hatred.
It’s like my soul feels
The vibrations
Of a tortured slave’s scream,
Begging for liberation.
Losing patience….
So I’m pacing….
In my cell praying
To God for blessings.
But my fundamental nature
is God’s essence.
So everyday I wake up
I’m in God’s presence.
This is God’s lesson.
If John 10:34 is true
Then I’m a vessel
For the miracle of God’s message.
Protecting My Energy…
By GL
I’ve made peace out of chaos,
by taking a piece out of chaos…
for chaos is but an imbalance to the natural disorder
of the universe.
So, I trained my mind to freeze the earth
So I can take the MC out of square…
Once you take Mass and Matter out of the equation
You’ve created a space, where negative energy dissipate
Where it used to be “Air”…
Riddle ME.
I am, who I tend to be
My vision is what many pretend to see
I have the ability to create my own destiny
The sign and symbols resting next to me.
…and believe it or not.
Adversity is the main verb, that’s protecting me.