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 (Caged Bird)

By MS

Caged bird…Caged bird,
Why do you STILL sing?
Seemingly… Wings clipped,
Does that make the melody that you sing all the more sweeter?
Loneliness as your constant companion,
Do you sing your want… Your dreams of the winds updrafts, the Sun, the Sky, and the Clouds at your back, with your Heart beating strongly…
Does your overtures remember the rhyme of being free?
Soaring on Forgotten Wings,
Wings clipped…. seemingly,
Perched in a Gilded Cage,
I ask….
Caged bird…..Caged bird…..
Why do you STILL sing?
(Is the tune that you sing for me….
or is it the one that I have always heard deep within me?)

Note: I had the great MAYA ANGELOU in mind when I wrote this.

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The Lighthouse

By AC

On a ship named ‘The Purpose’, I’m lost at sea
The waters too rough to stay the course
Merciless waves crash with great force
Thrown overboard I look to be

I raise the sails, but there is no wind
A flare I’d send, then who will see it?
These very waters have drowned every friend
Its undercurrent is undefeated

No NorthStar to follow, I navigate blind
The moral compass I have has me lost in my mind
My only thoughts of tomorrow is me floating they’ll find
A tear fell for my life-raft as I watched it unbind

Shrouded in darkness with so many holes in this boat
Walking the plank would be easier than staying afloat
Washed away in a storm, if this tide doesn’t shift
I let Hope take the helm, yielding existence to drift

Desperate for something to cling to before I’m claimed by these waters
I need a Lighthouse– I think of my daughter
Nothing in this world more a man should swim harder for
Plug the holes, steady ‘The Purpose’, I hold firm to the oar
My Daughter–My Lighthouse–She will lead me ashore.

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I Pray

By AL

I pray for the strength to endure tough times, while seeking inner peace.

I meditate using my 3rd eye, to soothe the inner beast.

I pray that Maat weighs in my favor, for all the good I’ve done.

I pray that karma will forgive me, and not prey upon my son.

I pray that when I take my last breath and my heart beats no more.

I pray I lived for a cause, that was worth dying for.

For what joy comes from a life that is hard to grasp, as if reaching for the wind?

So I pray that if I don’t get it right the first time, I can do it all over again!

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What Is To Be Free

By CS

To be free is to dream
And to think about all of
Life’s possibilities.

To be free is to soar
Through the air to the
Greatest heights like an eagle.

To be free is to move
Like water through mountains’ tops
And streams with no resistances

To be free is to fight for
Equal justice, rights, respect

This is what it means
to be free…

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Da City

By JK

A lot of people don’t understand our swagg.
They don’t get us, so they stereotype us,
Try to put our unique character in a bag.
“Oh you from DC? Yall crazy!” yeah, I heard it all before.
But don’t be quick to judge, give us a chance we’ll show you more.

See slim, yoon (you don’t) even know da (the) half of it.
Our muvahs (mothers) and favahs (fathers) had to grind errday (everyday) just to make sure
That we were warm and had a plate

Our bruvahs (brothers) and sistas (sisters) had to watch us while they worked.
We stayed close, stayed together, to make sure none of us got hurt.
We grew up in da trenches, projects in erry (every) part of town.
Norfeast (northeast). Norfwest (northwest) Soufwest (southwest) & Soufeast (south east).
We are a small city wif (with) a big heart.
So don’t try to dumb us down when a lot of us are really smart.

They call us savages too, beautiful chaos, a city wifout (without) order.
They can’t figure us out, they say it’s something in the wartah (water).
Nah, it’s just how we live and how we vibe.
It’s how we was raised that keeps us alive.

A lil chicken wings + mumbo sauce, to get us through da day.
In the winter some Ben’s Chili Bowl wif a half smoke on our plate.

All they brag about is da other part of da city… The Monument, White House, and the Capital.
All the tourist attractions, Gallery Place and Georgetown which now resembles the Big Apple.

Errything’s different now. Looks like I’m coming home to a completely different town. They say home is where the heart is, and DC’s my home for sure. And I’ll never forget where I came from
So it’s time to leave up out these prison doors.

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Untitled (Eager)

By BA

Eager to be in the wind, and to swim with no doubt.
Thoughts becoming perplexed, and never living in doubt.
Eager to be free, eager to see.

To fly beyond the sky’s seeking the entitling of times.
To cross the Serengeti in destitute times. “The mind”.
“Eternity”, to become eager with your mind.

Eager to show who I’ve become.
Eager to shine just as the sun.
Eager to win “we won”.
Eager to end we begun

Living life under the sun

Did you know the mind took time to grow, with eagerness it was created.
Struggling times, never allowing life to consume the mind, with eagerness we overcame.
So here we come, we overcame.

I thought of you last night, I thought of what you became
When I dreamed, I awoke calling your name,
The Fire in me, to love you forever.
No matter what, I chose to never give up.
I chose to shine bright, not just on you, “but everyone”.

Eagerness in the sun, soul, and mind, conquering destitute barriers inside your mind.

Red Roses, Blue Skies, and a Eager Mind.

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More Than My Crime

By DA

I am more than my crime,
I am more than my crime,
I had to say it twice,
Because if I’m lying, I’m dying.

I am a son to my mother,
A sibling to my sisters and brothers,
A dad to my children,
But is anyone listening?

My crime doesn’t define me,
Even though my conviction may stand,
I am “Pa Pa” to my grandchildren,
And to my Bae…I’m just her “Man”.

I am more than my crime,
And EVERYONE will see,
That I’m more than my crime,
And I’ll prove it once I’m free.

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Songs of a Struggle

By GS

Life is what I’m living behind these Prison Walls
Prison life a pressure, keep my back against the Wall
Separation and Death from loved ones, companions, and friends

My child ask why I can’t come home
Hardship, infuriating frustration turns pain into anger
Anger is a flame when flaming hot burns to a bitter end

Fear, being afraid of losing everything and dying in a Federal Pen
I’m blind and cannot see, this time is slipping away from me
Like slipping into darkness

Snakes, smiling faces, backstabbers, bad habits and broken promises
Is an everyday thing coming from where I’m from
Seems like there’s no justice

My Counselor calls me a trainwreck waiting to happen
I guess it’s like a quiet storm on how cold I’ve become
With a heart of stone, distance and time does change a man

Now the system is designed to have you on an emotional roller coaster
Not knowing which way to go, losing your mind
Staring at the walls having suicidal thoughts from poor decisions

I believe a change is gonna come one day
You have to have the motivation which makes you stronger
To use this time positively instead of negatively
Learning will take you to a higher ground

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Strife Life

By AB aka Strife

Pain and strife, I’ve known for half my life,
Pain and strife, I’ll never quit the fight,
Pain and strife, it’s a warrior’s life,
Pain and strife, a lot of tears shed at night
Pain and strife caused me to sleep with a knife,
Pain and strife, the struggle is real in life,
Pain and strife, a lot lost the fight
Pain and strife, made me pray to God at night
Pain and strife, made me want to give up on life
Pain and strife, I finally won the fight
Pain and strife, I finally changed my life…

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Thank You Allah

By WR

Thank you! Allah for letting me see a new day.

Thank you! For keeping me out of harm’s way.

Thank you! For helping me with my life,

Thank you! For finding me a good wife.

Thank you! For my family and all my friends,

Thank you! For forgiving me of all my sins.

Thank you! For giving me some wealth.

Thank you! For keeping me in good health.

Thank you! For all that you do,

So I would like to say, thank you!

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To Belong Is To Be

By KW

I’m cut from what James Farmer built.
Congress, what are you forgetting about CORE?
If I belong to what made William Garrison,
Why is the next candidate in a seat not
Fully reforming?

Campaign after campaign,
Promise after promise,
Talk after talk,
Ends with no results.

John Lewis is turning in his grave.
Frederick Douglass, we are lost!

The money make ‘em forget who they
represent.

Democrats got the House,
But still don’t help right the wrongs
Of old that keep African Americans in
Prison.

I’m a fourth-generation “freed” slave.
Why do I belong more in prison,
Than in my family’s company?
Because I belong to a history that still
Demands justice.

I belong to what Ralph D. Albernathy is cut from.

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Home

By AB

There’s no place like home,
Instead, the streets I chose to roam,
There’s no place like home.
I wish the older guys in the community would have taught me or
Shown, the time I’m doing is hard and long.
Now I’m stuck and all alone,
I came to prison as a kid but now I’ve grown
I’d give both arms and both feet to just be home.
I’ve made a promise to myself to teach the youth that there’s no place like home
And to never leave our loved ones all alone.
Because there’s no place like home…

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