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.
Forgive Yourself
By DJ
To a brother from another mother
Let’s take a long walk through the park
Some things I wish I would’ve told myself
And stayed young
Following more direction
Use them smarts Allah gave us
Wish I would’ve had someone else to guide me
Being where you’re at is the safest
But two days ago I got a plea bargain
For 10.5 to 22 years
For something I didn’t do
Who you think was affected by my situation?
None but family; no one else cried for me
No hood second thought on it with or for me
Wake up, young brothers
The streets has no hope or guidance
Like school or your family does
Take this time and before anyone else forgives you
Forgive yourself
My Mother
By MS
If only words could show
The depth of my heart
Or the love I have for her
My mother
A strong black mother
Who through adversity stayed strong
Single yet still held on
Embrace me within your arms
Your gentle voice saying
“We’ll make it through the storm”
My joy comes from you
My strength
My will
And my love too
Without you there is no me
You mean the world
So for you I wear my heart on my sleeve
On The Same Page Group Poem: My Home
We had an amazing On the Same Page session last week with the Georgetown University First-Year Orientation to Community Involvement (FOCI) program, which introduces incoming Georgetown students to social justice issues and opportunities for service and social change in Washington, DC. To close the session, the FOCIans (as they like to be called) and our Poet Ambassadors and staff co-wrote a group poem to the prompt “My Home.” We were inspired by the FOCIans’ commitment to social justice, and it was a great reminder for all of us: we may be coming from different backgrounds and different homes, but we all share the same need for love, support, comfort, safety, and family. And we all share the responsibility for making every community a safe, welcoming, and supportive home.
My Home
My home is where I have struggled, prospered, experienced pain, and rejoiced
Through it all
I have grown into the person I am today
My home is a place of comfort – a place of serenity + safety
No fear, no struggle
Surely, my home is not all homes
My home… 4 people
Sometimes in sync
Sometimes not
All doing their things
But bound by some things in common:
Caring, understanding, love
My home is governed by God
So joy + peace is not a façade
My home is bowls of warm tortellini
Late night Mets games
And hugs with my sister
My home is a place of support, humor, and hope
Grounded in the faith of my family
Committed to making ourselves live for others
By letting our hearts soak in the salience of unrecognized societal signs
My home is in the trees
Bark under my feet
Thoughts bouncing and breaking
Finding the places I keep hidden
I listen for the night to tell me
What’s inside myself
My home is what shaped me
My home is why I’m here
My home is what defines me
I did not choose my home
My home is a place of comfort – a place of serenity + safety
No fear, no struggle
Surely, my home is not all homes
Home is nowhere near
But is everywhere dear to my heart
Home… is my sanctuary
My place of hiding
Where my soul finds solace in me
Unconditional love from my mother
Weary and tired, I walk
Into my mother’s arms and cry
Until I have let it all out
Home will always be
I find my home in the love of my family and friends
It is where I feel comfortable yet challenged
Sharing life with others while being wholly myself
Three daughters with blue eyes
Two hard working parents
A fireplace on a cold autumn night
An Irish blessing on the wall
& Georgetown blankets on the couch
I look out the window and watch as the waves hit the beach
Unending patterns surround me
Do I notice the monotony anymore?
Sometimes I need to step away from it all
Exploring the unknown like the heron soaring overhead
Fresh, home-cooked food
Is a pleasure I have come to know
All too well
I have a bed to sleep on
Clothes to wear
And a family to love
But sometimes I wonder
What would I be like if those were gone?
Would I be different? Or would I be the same?
Would I frolic in the warmth? Or writhe in the cold?
I know what I have, and I am grateful for that
I praise God every day for what he has blessed me with
But sometimes I can’t help but wonder
What it would be like
If all that I had come to know
Were to change
A change that would challenge me
Alter the world as I know it
Force me to probe the inner depths of my soul
To find what I really feel
About the world in which I have come
To love
But then I realize that my home is my solitude
A place where I can go to drop
What the world has forced upon me
I can go home for a bed to sleep on
And a nice piece of blueberry pie
And then I realize, whenever this change comes,
My home is what will keep my life together
My home lets me go on
I am lucky to have a home
I am even luckier to call it mine
My home isn’t just a place where I live,
But more importantly it is a place where I love, laugh, smile
Not everyone has a house, but I have been given a home
How did I get so lucky
For You
By GB
G, you’re the greatest thing that’s happened to me
And I will do my best to never let you down
My plan is to give you the world
I always want you smiling
I can’t be there now
But best believe I want to
So when I am there…
I guarantee there’s nothing we won’t do
You may be only a baby now; I don’t care
I want to bathe you, play with you, feed you, dress you
And all day hold you in my arms
As long as I live, it doesn’t matter how old you get…
You are my baby boy, my first son
And because of that I will protect you from all harms
You want me at your basketball game, your school play?
I’ll be there…I won’t miss a score or a line, and I promise you that
Even if you’re only on the bench the whole game
Even if you only got one line
Imma still be proud of you
And I’ll be in the stands
With a “my son is the best” hat
You having trouble with your homework? I’ll be there to help
And I’ll have your mom there to help me
I’m going to push you to strive for excellence
With your mother’s brilliance and my potential
There’s nothing you can’t do
So son, everything I said, I meant it
Every word I said is true
I love you son, so son I’m here any time
And there is nothing I won’t do…
For You
If I Was Your Man
By JP
Even if we cannot be together
I hope he adores you and your heart he treasures
Makes you smile because your smile brings so much pleasure
And he blows your mind beyond its wildest measures
I hope he buys you flowers
Gives you his coat in rain storms and showers
Listens to you, talk for hours
And he keeps you safe from snakes, busters, and cowards
I hope he holds your hands
Kisses your soft lips no matter where you stand
Don’t get mad when you make numerous demands
And that all your wishes are his commands
I hope he cherishes the ground you walk on
Never argues with you and lets bygones be bygones
Builds you back up when your confidence is torn
And that he buys you new shoes when yours get old and worn
I hope he takes you out to eat and dance
It may sound corny but it’s all romance
If he does this then I know I don’t stand a chance
These are the things I would’ve done if I was your man
If You Wanta Know
By Alisha, Free Minds Poet Ambassador
I won’t write just to write
Even though they ask me to fill this space with words
They wanta know why I sing and set birds free.
They want to see my faded past
From a story line of poetic theories
Of rocky poetry…
They want me to fill this space
So I tell them
If you want to know of my life
Go into the darkest place of your soul
And let a little light shine through… then reach
And if you wanta know where I’ve been
Just read a book on evolution,
And if you wanta know where I’m going
Just kiss the plams of my hands
Because I’m evolving outa darkness
And grabbing on to life
Just so I can fill your space
With wise words
This poem was written on the recent Free Minds retreat to Sandy Spring Friends School, after walking in silence through a former stretch of the Underground Railroad.
I Come From
By Gary
Free Minds Poet Ambassador
I come from a struggle
Welfare mother on drugs
And a dog eat dog world
Where they say only the strong survive
And you watch the murder of friends
Through your innocent eyes
I come from where the devil is strong
And God is weak
And the only time you pray
Is for something to eat
I come from a society of its own
But where I’m going is a different spiritual zone
Where I can sit and write at Sandy Spring lake
And not have to worry who is creeping behind the gate
I’m going to where God is pushed first
And the devil is so shallow
And temptation is so hollow
And my new friends so positive I’m not afraid to follow
Where I’m going is someplace positive
You might want to go
This poem was written on the recent Free Minds retreat to Sandy Spring Friends School, after walking in silence through a former stretch of the Underground Railroad.
Forever Walking
By DL
Grab my hand and let’s take a walk
I’ll keep you warm; I’ll be your scarf
Our friendship will mold into a work of art
As long as our hands don’t break apart
Love and loyalty is all I want
One day without you feels like a month
Lost without a cure, you finally found me
You traveled far when the path was cloudy
You reached out your hand and entwined it with mine
As we dance on a cloud, lost in time
Your hiding place is in my heart
The door is open, no key no lock
A flower garden is where we’ll sit
As I compare the flowers to your luscious lips
A kiss by the river will have us suspended in air
While your love has me trapped, I’m forever ensnared
When the sky breaks open and God starts calling
We’ll still be holding hands… forever… walking
Triumphant
By GB
Going through struggles is a part of life,
So no matter what your endeavors are to conquer or overcome
Such resistance is up to you
Giving up should never be an option for yourself
Going through the struggle builds character
And then everyone will see how much you grew
You don’t do it for them
You do it for yourself
The achievement alone shows your strength
And that is the greatest victory
And once you reach that completion
Your success shall go further than you can imagine
What a life-changing journey
And one amazing story
Your adversaries shall be your motivation
To more victorious gaining in your new life
So love thy enemy
And forgive them for being antagonists
That’s how you conquest over your foes with kindness
And agree that’s a fine accomplishment
To handle conflict with your heart and not your fist
So once you reach the top of that mountain of peace of mind
Don’t lose it and so be alertly watchful to avoid trouble
Be a vigilante
‘Cause you made it to the end
You went through hell and back
And now look at you…you came out
Triumphant
On the Same Page: Coping with a Parent in Prison
Free Minds frequently holds “On the Same Page” events, in which members who have completed their sentences and returned to society – our Poet Ambassadors – share their writing and their stories of personal growth and positive change with the community to prevent violence and demonstrate the power of reading and writing to transcend challenges.
Last week, we held a particularly powerful On the Same Page event with middle school students from Chesapeake, Virginia. We end each On the Same Page with a Toast for Change, during which everyone present shares some way they hope to grow as a result of what we learned together that day. During the Toast, a courageous 13-year-old young woman named KW shared openly for the first time that her own father is incarcerated. Poet Ambassador LaTrae spoke with her after about his own experience and struggle coping with his father being imprisoned, and he shared the feelings of shame and secrecy that touch so many families impacted by incarceration. It served as a powerful example of the connection that comes from sharing ourselves and our stories.
Since the event, KW has written a number of poems to explore her feelings. We are posting them here to share and celebrate her strong voice and to continue creating space for all those touched by incarceration to share their stories, connect, and grow together. Thank you, KW, for your strength, your courage, and your willingness to share!
Da Struggle
By JP
Kids starving, momma nodding and pops foreign
These are the broken homes that most of us were born in
No food, no heat, and no water
This here is poverty, where life expectancy is much shorter
No shoes, holey clothes, and runny noses
In a place where praying is unheard of and who is Moses?
Prostitutes, drug dealers and cold killers
Doing errands for them so I could eat is all I remember
Birthdays was the worst days
We had to steal out of stores when we was thirsty
They say that there ain’t no love for the wicked
But don’t judge us, life chose us—we didn’t pick it
Surrounded by steel gates, none of them pickets
It’s like we were raised for jail, I don’t get it
Kids getting used, molested, and abused
Wearing long sleeves to school to hide the bruise
“M.O.B.,” a lot of dudes say; they live by the rules
And the young girls think it’s cute, but they are so confused
But I love where I’m from—don’t get it misconstrued
Even back when my lil bro was crying from hunger
And I ain’t know what to do
A couple of years later and it still draws emotions from you
And it’s still taking our young men to jail by the bundles
I’m a proud survivor of our world that we call the jungle
And even when I get old and rich, I’ll always remember “da struggle”
We Gotta Be Strong
By LB
We gotta learn to be strong
We gotta know right from wrong
We all make stupid mistakes
We all cried for days that could turn into lakes
We all need to take a deep breathe
Being strong will make us invincible to pain
Life surely isn’t to be taken as a game
Being strong will help us understand
We all gotta know where we stand