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 PJ
As it is opened, each turn is:
an inhalation, while I lift the pages,
laying them, to my left. It exhales.
As it reads, each word, brings:
a heart-beat. Sprouting, pushing,
it’s a life-giving blood: a story;
a tale; an enlightening; secrets, long held.
“Read.” As the reader’s eyes move,
the book:
quiet; still; says, to me,
as its heart beats.
As it breathes, life sprouts, in: the reader,
an intricate, slow, dance, bringing: inspiration. “I
live in these pages,” it exhales, as we inhale:
it’s tale: slowly, to the left. “Read, breathe.”
The book,
in it’s anonymous, anomaly; read, beneath, each
heart-beat, “This weaver’s tale…” and it reached:
drowsy, dormant, regions in my mind, that were
anomalous, sprouting, watering: emotions, inherited
versification, I couldn’t see, but felt, reading
the book.
Speak Your Truth
By AL
W.O.R.K…!
Allow your words to define who you
are through your actions.
And trust that I see you for you,
because we’re all aiming to reach
the same goal,
A perfect place to embrace
amongst the multicolor of the
rainbow.
Like the North Star you shine brightly.
Therefore cast your light to the voiceless
while striving to provoke change,
Expressing gratitude laughter and love
in the presence of your own pain.
Don’t be fierce in your quest for love
and reject all forms of hate.
For tomorrow is not promised to us
so grab the spotlight now, or forever
wait.
I can see the caterpillar “Trans”–
forming into a beautiful Butterfly.
Bare your soul to the world and
allow life to be your only natural
high.
Let your spirit run wild through the
fields of unlimited youth.
And each day as you become who
you say you are, bravely
Speak Your Truth.
*A special dedication to the Mysteries of the Rainbow. Happy Pride Month. *
Another One
By BG
I just had to write another one
No need to end on a bad note
I have plenty of reasons to smile
I’ve learned plenty of ways to cope
I love to laugh and chill
I love to work and play
God is my savior
To Him, I pray
My family is strong
My friends are well
I am listening to songs
Right here in my cell
So I appreciate what I used to overlook
This is just a page of a chapter of a story in my book
To you I thank for sending a postcard my way
Like your postcard made mine,
I hope this poem makes your day
Pen-Spilled Emotions
By JC
As my pen spills an emotion I don’t know if I’m physically
Able to verbalize the words that are written on my heart
They are caught because I don’t want to release them
With ill intentions, but knowing the truth sometimes hurts
And knowing what these words may cause, I seek the best way
To say them without causing division or discomfort hoping
You’ll understand at times the right words can’t be found
Or said so I rather show you through my action
If all fails I’m left to let my pen continue to spill my
Emotions that are written on my heart
Feel My Pain
By DP
Too young to communicate what’s going through my brain
My lips move, but words, they never seem to escape
Am I f****d up?
Or am I just too young to communicate my pain?
My pops isn’t the blame!
As a child, I was just too ashamed to share my pain
I’m all grown up
Yet I still find it hard to communicate what’s on my brain
My anger is my outlet
But I am confused with not being able to show love
Surrounded by men from different parts of the world
They don’t know me
So why should I show love that can be misconceived as weakness
Trapped inside of me
Is still this little boy who is scared to communicate his pain
Ma, you are the reason I try
The reason I look myself in the mirror just to see what’s in my eyes
I’m not afraid anymore
That’s why I am sharing with the world
The reason this little boy cries
For too long now I’ve been blaming others
When I should’ve been blaming myself
Yeah I know
It’s a harsh reality
But the truth always hurts
Words communicated with truth
Has the power to heal
But words are only a form of expression
To communicate my pain
From this little boy who holds anger and pain
I must first forgive those in order to let this anger and pain die
Don’t ask me why
But this little boy trapped inside of me is now ready
Ready to communicate his pain and tell the world why
The love for my family will never die
I was too young to communicate my pain
But as a grown man
Now I am ready to communicate
What’s on my brain.
Feel my pain!!!
#R.I.P. G-Pops
By AME
You left so fast and I cried for days
I’ve been angry and beyond depressed
All these bottled up feelings are hard to express
I smoked so much weed and drunk so much drank
I didn’t even shower and ran the streets until I stank
Why did you leave when I needed you the most
I too wanted to disappear and be a ghost
I began to hate and be cold hearted
Trouble grew around me in which it all started
So many days are forever dark
I still see your body being rolled on that casket cart
I’m still hurting but I know God called you home
It’s just hard believing you’re really gone
I will see you again and oh what a day it will be
But in the meantime, I’m sorry for not being me
I’m growing stronger and have given my life to Christ
Although you’re gone I know heaven is nice
So please ask God continue to hold my hand
That through all this pain I can humbly stand
I Forgot Who I Was
By HW
I woke up one day feeling powerless & caged.
I felt lost and afraid, it was freedom I craved!
I felt like no one loved me & I was all alone.
I felt young & lost, but I’m fully grown.
Beat down by life & my own mind.
I let myself down and I started to drown.
I could not see tomorrow
& felt like I could barely get through the day.
I don’t know who I am anymore,
like my memory started to fade.
Deep down inside I know I used to be strong,
then I remember that I have been strong all along.
I might have slipped,
I might have fell.
I have to stand up,
I have to prevail.
I must be fearless,
I must be strong.
It’s a mental battle
and I’ll make it home!
Her Name Is Streets
By AG
Why the old cry when the young die?
And when the young die
A newborn opens their eyes for the first time
Crime is programmed
To the mind of the young boy who is searching for love and shelter
Streets, she’s always the quickest helper
What you need money, drugs, violence?
Stop being silent
I love you, young boy
Streets whispers, “I’ve made people rich
I’ve made people poor
I’m that love you can’t ignore
Also I have 3 best friends named
Prison, Overdose, and Death
I’m going to be here for you when no one’s left
I’m Streets, the woman who softly caresses your chest
I grow no flowers, I’m concrete
A hard downfall for whoever falls on me
In case you don’t know my name is Streets.”
The Swim
By KC
I swim with the flow of the river.
The cold water cools not just my skin, but also my worries.
I can barely hear over the rapids.
I can barely see through the spray as it crashed all around.
I hold my breath, and my lungs burn.
My muscles scream out in protest as I strain to keep moving.
It’s a good feeling, honed over years of dedicated training.
It’s the same feeling I get when I awake, and thank God I’m alive.
For there is no greater freedom.
It is liquid life I swim through, confirmation I am alive.
In Her Eyes
By JG
I see the potential for forever
Subtle glimpses of lifetimes spent together
I see the heart of a mother
Tempered with the mind of a queen
I see an intelligent, competent conscious woman
Made for nothing less than a king
Strength and vulnerability are also there
Along with passion and compassion
And if I happen to be the vaguest question
She’s the specified answer
I see a deep ocean full of love
That’s barely been touched
And I just want to go deep sea diving
Giving her all of me
In exchange for us
Her beauty goes without saying
My soul yearns for more
Her eyes tell me likewise
And my soul is assured
I see the potential of forever
But if we ever part ways
I’ll always remember the power and potential
That live in her gaze
The Untold Story of Me
By AC
Inspired by the book Voces Sin Fronteras (Shout Mouse Press)
1985 I was born in El Salvador, right in the middle of a civil war. There was a lot of crime and poverty, because there were more pressing things for the government to worry about.
1991 A few months after my father left for the United States, my brother was born. Amazing brother. We kept fighting all the time, but he has always been there for me. My friend for life, though he sucks.
2000 We (my brother, my mom and I) came to the U.S. It was hard to get the hang of it (I might argue that I never truly did get the hang of it), but I managed. Life changed dramatically, mostly for the better.
2004 I graduated from high school. It felt like a stepping stone, but continuing education was a bit tricky with my immigration status. Also, that year my other brother (half) was born. I love him tons, as I do the other.
2010 After almost ten years of being in this country, I was allowed to get a residency. My doors opened wide and I started to make money at 8-hours-a-day jobs. Everything looked bright.
2012 A dark cloud came over my bright world. A series of bad decisions in my life led to my arrest this year, effectively destroying absolutely everything that had happened in my life up to this particular point in time.
2017-18 After thinking I had lost my VOICE, along with everything else due to my arrest, I discovered I still have a voice, even if my life as I knew it is effectively over. I discovered this in a Write Night letter, in some person’s comment that read something along the lines of : “A.C., I enjoyed your poem. I relate to [such and such a thing]. I liked [this and that]. Thank you for sharing, please keep writing.” I thought to myself: “People actually read these poems that A CRIMINAL has written? Someone read MY poem?” Not only were they reading it, they were relating. They were getting some sort of consolation from me, knowing that they were not the only people in this world to have these thoughts. That thought. They felt that in a way, my writing was helping them remember/realize that they were, in fact, not alone with their thoughts. “Wait, what? Helping? Me? A freaking criminal actually providing ANY kind of help back to the community that I felt I betrayed by breaking the law? I can help?” And so I push myself to share my thoughts openly/honestly so that people can see my vulnerabilities, and doubts, and regrets, and life lessons. I want people to see and comprehend that the world keeps spinning no matter what, and yes, we all have ups and downs, wins and losses. It’s all part of being human. I want people, all people, to simply see that they are not alone in this human experience. I’m a human too (though I’m an Alien…from another country). That’s why I write life lessons; sometimes the tone/mood is down, sometimes up, sometimes in love, sometimes hurt, sometimes hopeful, sometimes profound…etc. I want to show my human side, I want to show the man hidden behind my inmate #. I want to have a Free Mind.
Lost in Between
By SC
Under a starry night
by the sea
looking into shimmering waters
I am mesmerized by its colors!
Sparkling diamonds
embedded on blue mantle
emerald waves
broken by pure pearls of foam
From above a canopy of lights
covers me in wonderment
as far as my eyes could see!
“There” I am lost in between –
This expanse of waters harmony
when startled by a strange sound
and words with empty rhymes
While on a bench two lovers
were conversing instead of being
God, I wish I had a boat and leave
anchoring somewhere to be
“there” where no strange sounds
could or would distracting me
to be lost in between.