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.
We’re Dreamers
By LV
They had promised us a better future.
We’re the ones that dream with a better future,
One by one our dreams were being achieved
We’ve built a future, in this country we’ve anchored our lives
At the end of the day, we have been awoken
to face the rawness of reality.
We’ve pursued the American dream,
they have traded our American dream;
Now we’re only dreamers,
that’s the title the government has given us.
A dream that in reality is more like a nightmare,
a nightmare that we’re forced to live day by day.
Dreams are one thing, but the reality is another.
Now we’re dreamers with an uncertain future,
My future seems like the next nightmare
It seems like they want to lock away my dreams
in a cell of an immigration detention center
“It doesn’t cost a thing to dream.”
We’re the dreamers,
The ones that claim justice, because we love this nation
We’re the ones that have overcome many obstacles,
We have reached plenty of achievements.
There’s many that wish to crush down our dreams
Trapped
By AD
Trapped in this cage,
Am I justified to feel rage?
or should I use this experience as fuel to ignite a blaze,
a scorching inferno burning, turning all the hate to ashes,
where justice applies to all, not just those in the lower classes,
But is it really Justice, where the symbol they use is blind?
The endless cycle of poverty,
Consumerism used as a tool to enslave my mind.
Poverty, just like robbery, it should be labeled as a crime.
Resources stripped from our communities, it strengthens yours,
while it weakens mine. Now you wonder why I’m mad.
Violent tendencies to express my anger, those who should protect me.
I run because in them I sense danger.
I’m still trapped in this cage, but no, it’s not of the physical kind.
It’s your multifaceted master plan – tools you use to enslave my mind.
Spring
By SJ
The sun is moving higher into the sky,
The days are bluer and brighter,
The pigeons are happily in flight,
The rains have been suspended,
and the beetles will soon begin to emerge from their
slumber in the earth.
Not long now,
And we will swelter,
In the blinding “Washington DC” sun,
That hangs like a bare light bulb,
from a wire above us.
The squirrels will take to running,
Crossing the concrete streets,
Searching for victuals.
Our little patch of planet is swinging,
Toward the furnace of “Sol” at a thousand miles per hour,
Soon, very soon its full effect,
Will broil the tops of our heads like eggs frying a pan.
Let us enjoy this in-between time, while we are still able!
New Home
By PA
I finally made it here, as sweat fills my hands.
There’re cuffs on my wrist, ankle & a chain wrapped around
my belly, man.
I look around on the bus, as it pulls through the steel gate.
Most of the guys are anxious & just can’t seem to wait.
Me, I wish the bus would sit right here & never enter,
I began also to think to myself, why did I pull that trigger?
Well it’s too late to think of the past—My only…
choice is to live here & survive like a man.
Whatever that is, I really don’t know.
I’ve heard so many stories on how things could go.
I’m in a bad position as it all sinks in.
But, maybe I can turn this negative into a positive.
I’m 19 with 10 years, here to grow.
If I practice on bad behaviors, it will only make things go slow.
As I stepped off the bus in this, new world of life,
I need to make a decision to carry books or a knife?
They process me in, after they remove all the iron
And my body feels so drained, weary, and tired
Each man got towel, blanket, sheets, and a mattress as well.
And was taken to our New Homes which now was a prison cell.
As I entered my unit I became very aware, for
it seemed every pair of eyes turned to me and stared.
#127 was my cell number, I stepped inside
to make up my bed, for my first night here of slumber.
I laid in bed to free my mind for this mental fight,
which I knew would last the next 10 years of my life.
John My Friend
By DK
Today was a bittersweet occasion,
Helped me for a moment to reduce my constant raging.
John, you are now free…at home…at last,
This past year, gone, it escaped us so fast.
I know you left a truly changed man,
I watched you every day…making your reentry plans.
I already miss you and the jokes that we played,
Hopefully once I’m released, we’ll catch up…one of these days.
We butted heads, and fussed sometimes; I caused you a bit of tribulation,
As you left I heard as you said ‘goodbye & take care’…true jubilation.
When you left me here today, I regret that I left so much unspoken,
You are such a great friend, a mentor, I’m kind of heartbroken.
It’s rare to find a true friend like you in a place like this,
D*mn it John, you’re one friend I will surely miss.
So by the time you read this, you’ll be settled, back on your feet,
And the stigma you’ll face, well it’s something I know you can beat.
You’re highly educated…A Penn State grad,
So many qualities you shared, reminds me of my dad.
So I know I will surely hear from you soon,
As corny as it sounds, I’ll think of you each time I look at the moon.
So John, I love you my dear friend, but please don’t return,
Because this freedom you were granted, is something you definitely earned.
Marco! Polo!
By AC
Life is more like a group thing,
it isn’t really a solo.
I wish I would have known
instead of finding out on my own
that everything is better in company
than going at it alone.
Marco! Polo!
Always looking for something out there.
Missing the small simple things,
or how perfect they were
and how they meant everything
Marco! Polo!…
Just open your eyes,
Wake up to the lights
of all that surrounds you.
Take off from your face
the veil that blinds you.
Appreciate what you have.
It may not all be good,
but it’s not totally bad.
And try to remember:
Keep your eyes on the ball,
and that we tend to forget
that the higher we get,
the harder we fall.
I’m learning all this
as I’m getting old.
Whatever you do,
Hold on tight to your soul.
Marco! Polo!
I found you.
Incarceration
By DJ
Could have, would have, should have been on the streets, on my feet
Looking out my cell window like damn, I’m so far from a street
Staring at the wall like this isn’t where I should be
In the visitation room just looking at my beautiful niece
When I call home just talking and thinking like that’s where I should be
When they call my name at mail call, you should see the smile on my face, just the happiest as I could be
Under the jail if I die in prison I know that is where they’ll bury me
When pencil meets paper, my hand lets out the real me
When I read, I travel to every place but Southeast
For the Birds…
By DC
They say prison is for the birds you know,
But I think those who say it just don’t understand…
Because the other day I was in my window,
When I just happen to see one land…
And I saw the look in its eyes, when it observed the scene,
And when it noticed where it was at…
It noticed the place was over crowded with people,
Some White, some Mexican, Some Black …
It saw how they all was separated in sections,
It guess it was because of their color…
It wonder, shouldn’t they be standing against the system,
But they chose to stand against each other…
It saw the food the people ate was at the bottom of the barrel,
To the point, it rather keep eating worms…
It never seen a place so filthy,
And they say it’s the one with germs…
It watched all the looks on the people’s faces,
Some showing depression, anger, and it can understand,
Because a place like this got to be built only to break the strongest man…
But they say prison is for the birds you know,
Well, I find it hard to say…
Because if prison is built for the birds like they thought,
Then why can it fly away?
Longing for Lost Love
By CM
Companionships are often broken
Let me be blunt and open
I’d rather be sunk than soaken
When love’s washed away
‘Cause losing love is torture
Misery often follows
Millions of dreams of marriage
My heart’s a sleepy hollow
I must release this sorrow
But I cling to her smile
I itch to fix this heartbreak
I’ve been a fiend all the while
When she sings, flowers blossom
When she cries the sun loses light
As she sleeps my soul is at ease
So I’m most at peace during the night
Let me know everything is all right
Even though you’ve chosen to move on
I’ll be here to tend to your heart
Anytime it’s broken or torn
And then maybe ours can mend…
Under the Jail
By SC
So very far, way way down deep
There’s brothers’ souls stuck in the foundation and the price they paid was not cheap
I think of the good men who passed through jail
And those who didn’t make it because for them it was hell
Under the jail, where I now reside
I’m sure there’s plenty of head stones, cats that passed from pride
Use to be if I had one wish, I’d use it all on me
Now if I had just one, I’d set all my brothers and sisters locked down all go free
Under the jail is where you’d think they’d put all their worst
But I’ve met doctors and lawyers that all share the same curse
That’s just the distance that I was willing to climb down to
Imagine going deeper and what could be found by the likes of you
Under the jail, them folks like to hide all their mistakes
And they’re secure with their decisions because most people don’t climb down that for they don’t have what it takes
I’m here so far down, I sometimes feel the heat from the earth’s core
I’m not a threat to anyone, but deeper down they seem to even push me more
Now this is just my version of what I see under the jail
There’s millions of us locked up with different stories to tell
What’s under your Jail?