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.
My Struggle
By AF
They lock us in these cages
And throw away the key
Say it ain’t no hope for me
I was only sixteen
When they gave me eighteen
Man if they really really knew
All of the s*** we go through
Maybe they’ll provide a better way
And lil bruh still be here today
These streets is unsafe
Or do they really even care
That this s*** is unfair,
We living in the slums, so you better not run
Cause they’ll shoot you in your back
And justify your death
Say I took away his breath
‘Cause I thought he had a gun
And wasn’t nothing in your hand
Now do you see what I’m saying?
History keep on showing us
That America don’t accept us
But don’t listen to lil ole me
Just watch and see
Trump about to show you
That this ain’t that land of the free
Nor the home of the brave
Money, lies and graves is what this country really about
And how it was made…
How to Make America Great Again in 10 Steps
By AC
After “How to Make a Cardboard Box Disappear in 10 Steps” by Clint Smith
- Build walls to emphasize borders.
- Send out hateful messages and sign harmful executive orders.
- Create division and racial tension within a nation.
- Split up families and kick out Dreamers with no valid justification.
- Treat women like objects or second class citizens. (It’s not like they carry life within them and have the gift to give life or anything anyway.)
- Create diplomatic confusion internally, while stirring up economic chaos nationally.
- Open the eyes of The People so we can all see that there is something very wrong with us all.
- Unite all races and genders against you and your ways.
- Realize that it’s not you that makes this country great, it’s the diverse people within it and the daily sacrifices they are willing to endure to keep the American Dream alive.
- Move aside. Let anyone else attempt to fix the mess you’ve made.
Not Forgotten
By TTB
I am just an afterthought
To a world that is constantly moving
But then…
I am a wish to those who remember
And miss me
Dear DJ
By JM
Dear DJ,
I feel so left alone down here, but I know that ain’t the case
Memories throughout the years
The laughter and the tears, the love from all our peers
We set off on many journeys together to conquer all our fears
Now I cry so many tears
And though you feel so far away
I know you’re very near, I feel your presence everyday
Man, it devastated my heart to hear you passed away
But God has the final command—I hope mercy finds you in every way
I pray to be half the man you were, to earn God’s mercy in my own way
But for now I gonna keep on living hard
You wouldn’t have it any other way
Plus I gotta look at it this way, I gotta help your kids to gain
Then I smile at your smiling faces to cope with all the pain
Sometimes it seems like time is stuck in place, still hear echoes of your name
Could’ve swore I heard you call me the other day
Don’t take it wrong I can explain
My first cousin, but more close to me like a brother
Got love for you like a mother
There is peace believe it or not
I am struggling just to keep my face clean, I love you straight from my heart.
Speak Child Speak
By MS
For my daughter
Speak, child, speak,
hold not your tongue because the question that you ask,
the answer that it brings may be the solution that saves us all
Speak, child, speak
Because ignorance is not bliss,
it is apathy to the mind.
It is the residue of stagnant thoughts that destroys itself fully
with the passions of time
& stagnation is death to young & old minds.
Speak, child, speak,
your voice may be the one that touches the world & shapes reality
into a paradise that women, men, & children may grow & peacefully live in.
Speak, child, speak,
Because my voice is old & un-remembered.
It is the weeping in the bowels of coffin ships & it is the creak of rope & wind
& silent kingdoms swaying in a sultry southern breeze,
it is the shackles of falsehoods binding me to inferior thoughts of mental slavery,
It is the sound of a fast life lived & lost in court rooms
silently weeping in cells trying to escape my self-created hell.
Speak, child, speak,
Because you are the Grace of God & the Dreams of a Nation.
SPEAK, CHILD, SPEAK
The Sounds of My Heart
By DL
Pow, pow, pow, my heart beats like a gun
Love conquers everything and cupid is on the hunt
Boom, Boom, Boom, my heart beats like thunder
Winter makes love with spring to give birth to summer
Pop, pop, pop, my heart beats like bubble gum
Kissing you is much better right under the morning sun
Clap, clap, clap, my heart beats like applause
I’m only happy when I’m with you, you could never turn me off
Snap, snap, snap, my heart beats like snapping fingers
I’m drunk off your love and I’m a heavy drinker
Bam, bam, bam, my heart beats like exploding fireworks
Loving you is my favorite job, I will make it what it’s worth
Knock, knock, knock, my heart beats like someone’s at our front door
Our love is like a winning team and I just made the final score
Beep, beep, beep, my heart beats like a honking horn
I love it when you touch me, your hands are so soft and warm
Ring, ring, ring, my heart beats like a ringing phone
I just received your voicemail telling me to hurry home
Drip, drip, drip, my heart beats like leaking water
I want you to have our first child, a son or a daughter
Tap, tap, tap, my heart beats like an object tapping on a table
If you ever leave, my heart beat will be disabled
Vroom, Vroom, Vroom, my heart beats like an engine
I’ll run a thousand-mile race for your love, from start to finish
Dear You
By KW
Don’t leave me like this!
Let’s talk about it.
What did I do wrong?
Can it be fixed?
I do whatever I have to do to correct it!
Just don’t go!
Please don’t leave me behind.
I can’t go on without you.
I am nothing without you.
Please don’t cut me off!
I can be better!
What do you need me to do to prove it to you?
I’ll do anything to be with you.
Anything you name it.
I love you like nobody loves you.
We are made for each other.
Without you I’m lost
Let’s work it out, okay?
Yours truly,
Self-Respect
This One’s For You
By DM
Grandma, you nourish and protect me
From day one, I remember people thinking,
I was your child, and not your grandson.
As I got older, you were always the shoulder I needed to lean on.
Grandma, I get so fed up with this life,
And I miss you.
Tears are falling—someone pass me a tissue.
Yes Grandma, I cry because I love you,
And I promise I will not put no one above you.
Grandma, I still have that hole in my heart.
Now that you’re gone, it’s really torn apart.
I remember when you said that my biggest threat is me,
And since you left, I got caught up with some beef,
Looking for that love you gave me in the streets.
Now I know it’s not there,
So where do I get it from?
Now you caught up in the air.
I have to get this off my chest,
Because it has me stress,
Thinking I’m the reason behind your death.
You would probably be here
If I didn’t get caught up with that mess—
You would not have been stressed.
My mom said that I am selfish,
Because I want you here with me.
I agree, but I am empty.
And you make me complete.
Grandma, I know you would be proud,
Because I don’t hang around with the same crowd.
Grandma, in your eyes,
I did no wrong, even when I was wrong.
Grandma, I know you in a heavenly place,
With good health, body in shape—
With that Holy Spirit glow on your face.
Grandma, when I think of you,
It’s all smiles.
I’m not your grandson, but forever your child.
God bless you Grandma, I love you.
Untitled (for Amy Winehouse)
By AC
You are selfish, inconsiderate, reckless.
Who gave you the right?
To darken peoples’ life-lights
And put tears in their eyes.
I guess you never did stop to think
Of the hurt that you caused in a blink.
You didn’t consider the hearts that you broke,
Or contemplate the pain that you brought
To those you said that you loved.
Or maybe that’s just what you thought.
Now there’s nothing you can say.
Literally, nothing.
It is all far too late.
Would it have been the same fate?
If you truly had known what you meant?
If only you knew
Of the smiles you drew
From all the sad faces
Just by you being you.
You should have seen it:
Everyone saw it right where they stood
How people changed from lonely and sad
To being comforted, understood.
It was so very good.
You matter! You are loved!
Don’t do it! Just stop!
Think about what will be lost
Of the people that love and surround you.
You have more blessings than most
And what you’re doing has a great cost
People really want to hear what you say
Please don’t throw it away
But alright,
You say you can’t stay? It’s okay.
Farewell, my dear friend.
I’ll see you some day.
Author’s note: I wrote this with Amy Winehouse in mind. She became famous in the UK from a very early age. She was so talented and very much loved yet she never really saw how well-received she was and people truly wanted to hear what she had to say next. She struggled to the point of being reckless with her very life. She was so reckless in fact that she ended up dying. She reminds me of how reckless I was with my own life. I was very unappreciative and that is something I can see now, as if a veil lifted. But now it’s too late, life as I knew it has completely ended and it will never be the same. After a 15-year sentence, I will be deported to El Salvador. I can literally say that my reckless actions cost me everything. But thankfully, I’m still alive.
Some Day I’m Gonna
By TG
Someday I’m gonna
learn new things.
How to play the piano
and how to sing.
Someday I’m gonna
write a book
or a love song
with a jazzy hook.
Someday I’m gonna
start to work out
watch my weight
and walk about.
Someday I’m gonna
make new friends
contact old ones
tie up loose ends.
Someday I’m gonna
spend more time
with my family
just me and mine.
Someday I’m gonna
stop saying
Someday I’m gonna
and just do it.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind
By RBS
I’m locked in this cell,
I can’t stop pacin’.
A prisoner of my own thoughts,
That’s why my head keeps achin’.
My nerves real bad,
I sit down,
But can’t stop shakin’.
I’m turning bitter and cold,
Trying not to lose my patience.
My heart beats,
but holds no love,
It’s always breakin’.
‘Cause the ones who s’pose to keep it real,
Always wind up fakin’.
I thought I had a good girl,
A dime worth chasin’,
I ain’t heard from her in a while,
Was I blind, mistaken
Look at all the strong people that this times be breakin’.
Are the stiff sentences for the crimes,
Or are these swines just hatin’?
Love ones at a crossroad in their hearts,
Minds contemplatin,
If we’re still that everything they need,
Or can they find replacements,
So many good men forgot about,
Left behind, forsaken
‘Cause their folks’ decision was that more division was the right equation
Now I find myself staring at the fears they all once were faced with,
Prayin’ God please give my folks a sign,
That I’m still worth the wait
How to Bring About Peace in 10 Steps
By AL
After “How to Make a Cardboard Box Disappear in 10 Steps” by Clint Smith
1. Add in 1 lb of Dignity
2. Pour in 2 tbsp of Integrity
3. Simmer over 5 cups of Sympathy
4. Stir in 1 clove of Compassion
5. Next add 1 heaping of Independence
6. Mix 4 ½ cups of fresh Perseverance
7. Chop up 3 bushels of Love
8. With a dash of Imagination
9. Grind 2 tsp of Nobility
10. Sprinkled lightly over 7 lbs of Empathy