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.
What I Don’t Say
By AB
When I say freedom
You hear closing cell doors
When you say freedom
I hear soft cries
What I can’t say is peace of mind
What I mean is sanity
When you say peace
Do you mean paradise?
What I wish I’d told you is be patient
What I want you to know is hope exist
Forgotten Wings
By MS
Forgotten wings
Disused & abandoned
Tricked self into believing that you (we) couldn’t fly
World weary… head heavy
Barely sleeping
Fitfully resting my eyes
Dazed
Does this pass for dreaming
I can feel the wind on my face
Eyes – wide open
I can see these wings carrying me to the other side…
At second glance, I realize that I am dreaming
It wasn’t me soaring
Dis-used & abandoned
Seeking the courage to spread my wings
And fly on forgotten wings
Family Picture
By LC
After Slugg: A Boy’s Life in the Age of Mass Incarceration by Tony Lewis Jr.
There’s something missing with this picture
As I wake onto a random day
In a random hood
In a random city
In America
I listen
Listen to the voice of my mother
Shouting down the bickering of my
Little sister and little brother
But there’s something missing
So I look
Look to find my auntie on the couch
With my baby cousin in hand
Look out the window to find the neighborhood junkie
But he is not the MAN
I’m looking for
See that man has been gone for years
Gone from this family’s struggles
Gone from being this family’s muscle
Gone from this family’s daily hustle
Ironic that I used that last word
‘cause HUSTLE is what got him sentenced
To no return, L.I.F.E.
So my father is what’s missing with this picture
My uncle too
And to every other black child
In a random hood
In a random city
In America
I’m just like you too.
I Saw A Cloud
By AG
I saw a cloud pass by today
It reminded me of you
It was just one cloud out of many,
but out of all the clouds in the sky,
I saw it. It caught my eye and my eyes lingered
on it until it hid behind a bigger cloud
I knew it was there still, waiting a moment
before showing itself again
And there it was, with its gentle curves
and mysterious nature, one moment this shape, then the next moment another.
As the cloud passed by the sun,
it grew more bright and cheerful, but the further away it drifted, the darker it became.
It’s 4:38 now and you’re raining, and the sky is dark.
I SAW A CLOUD!
This Is Who You Are To Me
By CJ
In my ocean, you are a rainbow fish
Because you have beautiful colors
In my grassy field, you are a flower
Because you smell good
In my galaxy you are a planet with moons
Because you keep our family together
In my heart you are the blood
Because you keep me alive
You are my world
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