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 Wish for You, Mom
By MC
I would love to see you happy
I hurt to see you cry
You deserve high praise
I don’t want you to leave this earth
I wish for you to stay forever
I believe you can love me like a mother
Don’t be afraid of life
When I imagine you Mom, I feel happy
You are the best
I wish for you to love me to the very end
For My Fellow Brothers
By MD
I would love to see you prevail
I hurt to see you fail
You deserve the best in life
I don’t want you to live in a cage
Inside someone’s jail
I wish for you to be free
I believe you can soar
Like an eagle high in the sky
Don’t be afraid of being different
Or being called a misfit
(more…)
Gift to Moms and Grandma
By MM
I wish I can give my mom my freedom
Walk out jail gates then I see them:
My grandma and my moms
Holding them in my arms
Heart racing, feeling alarmed
Mom cries tears of joy
Happy to see me, her oldest boy
Now I’m feeling real proud
To once again make them smile
I Wonder
By CE
Sometimes I wonder why I was put on Earth if everybody has to die
Or why should I love someone that can be gone in a heartbeat
They say it a crazy world
But to me it’s f*cked up to have a life but can’t cherish it
I wonder if Adam and Eve never disobeyed God, would we have eternal life
As well, if there wasn’t no disease, then can life be a fairytale
But sorry to say that that’s a book we won’t never get to read
But honestly, would you want to live in a fairyland?
‘Cause you have to have a bit of pain or sadness
To bring the true meaning of life
Because life is an element of free will
Before you can reach paradise
Forever Lasting
By DB
Forever lasting love
Forever lasting friendship
Forever lasting happiness
With you I spend my life
Hard times fly by
Great times stay remembered
But if I’m with you
Nothing can hinder
My love for you
Because it’s forever lasting
Life
By DJ
Life is a game
Life don’t make change
When you love your life growing up
You got to be trained
Life is too short
When you get your own responsibilities
You get off the porch
Life is a gamble
When you strung out on things
Your life just scramble
Life!!!
The Portrait
By RD
I’m spilling my heart with pen on paper.
I love myself; it’s preposterous to put my body in any bad situation.
Wherever your body go, your mind will follow with no hesitation.
So why put yourself in a cage?
I’m so angry with myself. You can just stand by me and feel my rage!
If you never been in a situation like this, believe me you don’t want to.
This is torment to your mind, body, and soul
And even though you know it will, it feel as though it will never end!
Just put it this way: If you believe in hell, this is hell’s friend.
Understand my poem, read it over if you have to!
I want you to visualize this picture I’m trying to paint
So you can see what I’m going through
Concentrate. Think about being down-graded and humiliated
Because people think they better than you.
Think about being unable to eat what you want
Because a person you don’t even know said you can’t!
Picture waking up wanting to go take a walk and get some fresh air
But you restricted, you just might faint!
Are you visualizing this portrait that I’m using my words to paint?
If not let me know because like I said,
My words, the paint, and I have plenty of ink.
Ponder on this: say you have a favorite show.
But it’s lock-down time, so now that show is a no-go
Now listen this is the low blow:
Having to strip naked whenever an officer say so!
I love myself and I want you to see
That’s why I paint this picture through this poem.
This picture is not pretty, but it’s here to help people reform.
I don’t know about you
But to live this life was not why I was born!
My Star
By RD
My star
You guide, you twinkle, you shine bright
Wherever you are
Just the thought of you sends my heart pumping
That’s how I know you’re not far
My star
You are light when there is none
Wherever you are
Just because of you my steps are steady
Because I know where you are
Happiness is not far
My star
My beautiful star
You are the center of my universe
Wherever you are
Wherever you go
I will follow a billion miles on foot
Even if I had a car
My star
My sweet star
I am night and you are my star
Therefore, whenever the sun sets
Our love is not far
Still Feel
By RD
People say I don’t care about anything but myself
But tell me, if you’ve been caged in like an animal,
How long would you stay yourself?
Me, I am still the same
I’ve just adjusted to my circumstances
I can’t be distracted, I can’t be distressed
I can’t take any chances (more…)
Do You Remember
By RW
Do you remember
Falling in love?
Do you remember
When we first hugged?
Do you remember
When we first kissed?
Do you remember
When we first missed?
Do you remember
When you told me you cared?
Do you remember
When you told me you would always be here?
Remember when I told you
I’m playing for keeps
Remember when I told you
The love we share is deeper than the sea
I remember you told me
That you would never leave without saying goodbye
Looking at you from a distance
Makes me want to cry
Do you remember the letter you wrote me
And made these promises back in December…
Surely, I remember!
I Smile When My Soul Cries
By JP
If common sense is the opiate of the masses
Then I’m the man of a thousand masks
Don’t try to figure out my character
Because it has chameleon characteristics
It changes with its surroundings,
The people who I may encounter
It is most times my defense mechanism
To keep others at bay
To throw you off
My smile is one of my masks
(more…)