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.
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.
Jail Bird
By AB
A bird once flew over a prison and sat on the bars of a window sill
The prisoner fed the bird crackers and the bird ate to his fill
The prisoner put water in a top for the bird to wet his beak
The prisoner done a good deed before he went to sleep
The bird didn’t leave–
He became a jail bird that didn’t know he was free
Fire and Ice
By AW
Never shall I die in prison as my dad
died in 1999
Fire and wind of the sky
Fire and ice of my soul
Stirring within my heart the
love of life needed to grasp heaven within
A tale of sorrow, abandonment, and enslavement
Survival of the fittest
The sole survivor, souls survive
Though I may die a thousand times
In a thousand different little ways
Never shall I die in prison as my dad
died in 1999
I fly,
fire and wind
I sing,
fire and ice
Never shall I die in anybody’s cage.
“I will not be counted among the broken men.” - George Jackson
Color Blind
By LC
Love burns in my heart
for all
Strong, like the sun at high noon
But you see it not
Nor do you see the ambition
the hope, the genius
You don’t see it
Because all you see is a color
What I Wanna Be When I Grow Up Part 2
By DR
When I grow up I wanna
be strong like a cup
Hold everything up
and never gets enough
Built Ford tough and
can take all of its weights
Section off like a plate
Looking for the utensils
after grace
Just like Cookie for Santa’s
plate, Oreos & milk,
Never stays in its place
So keep a smile on your face,
cause what u wanna be,
when you grow up it’s
Never an End to this Race
What I Wanna Be When I Grow Up Part 1
By DR
When I enter pre-school I remember, all the rules
ABCs and 123 sleep time but while the teacher reads
Itsy Bitsy Spider, for me
When the rain of home the next day the sun dries me
Seems like the only cap and gown I seen
Watching my life on this widescreen
The household struggles took away my dream
Moved from the projects, what did it cost me?
A school of learning, I was a bumblebee
But the family grew, needed more room
Didn’t know welfare was everybody’s dreams
To the second stage, if my theme getting beat up became an outside thing
So I couldn’t focus on being a king
I went to neighbor to neighbor to learn different things
Looking at God’s nature, the stray things I knew since I was the only
I hear owls (sing) that I have to keep seeing things
That’s not what I wanted to be when I grew up
Sometimes I don’t think I’ll ever grow up
I still pray every day to what I wanna be when I grow up
But just in case I don’t show up
He bless (his children) to play
Be safe and grow up
(No matter what color in your cup)
Or what’s your family luck
Just say, your prayers when you get stuck and they will show up
Isolation
By AS
Trapped inside your own mind,
no human contact takes a toll in time.
Have seen many lose their mind;
but to some only the strong survive
It affects many differently,
but all mentally and physically.
It’s not a place for a human being;
either animals have time to roam.
Being caged in like endangered species is not for any
I witness this isolation;
I live in this isolation;
Taking one day at a time
while occupying your time is the mentality of many.
As one focus on life they grow in time and
with every hardship comes ease and in the
end one will free his mind
Peace
AS wrote this while in solitary confinement.
Penitentiary’s Soul
By AG
Penitentiary’s therapy
Thriller of the cage;
Or is it rage?
An emaciated man
covered in a crimson crown,
head unbowed.
Stall-fed verifier
Subsisting on other’s tears
Or is it fear?
Herculean beastly forearm.
Crisscrossed with scars;
Each slice a clash
With weakness.
IN the center of your pain.
IN the center of your fear.
Penance or punishment,
Heaven or hell
Monastery or grace?
You, alone decide.
Dogfriend
By MH
I never spoke two words to you
Yet you love me
I didn’t have to ask, however
You gave me my name
Even the place you live called home
I’m able to live just the same
I’m even cool that you always dominate our exchange
I have to feed off of you
When you’re happy, I’m ecstatic
When you’re angry, I’m mad
When you’re down, I can’t help but feel sad
I move off of you and obey your commands
One-way communication since I can’t speak
But all your words I understand
Could you ask for a better friend?