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.
Embracing My Future
By JK
The secure embrace holds me in place
Keep me steady, slows my pace
Helps me see the light at the end of a dark tunnel
The storms have finally ceased, no longer a deep funnel
I’ve already confronted my past, I’ve moved forward to the present
This gift, that’s filled with a life that is pleasant
Most wouldn’t agree because of where I still sit
But I survived through the chaos so I wouldn’t forget
The reminder of a terrifying time,
Filled with worry, guilt and shame
Has turned into a humbling experiences
That gave me a brand new name
My future will be here soon enough
My prayer is that it happens fast
I have so many things to look forward to
And this too, shall be a blast
The song in my daughter’s voice
The intellect of my son’s words
The stone on my mother’s grave
The admiration in my man’s eye
Speak more than words can say
This future, this unknown time
This wonder-filled, hope for that day
Has filled my heart with so much joy
Cause I know God has paved the way
My Little Flower II
By MV
To my Beautiful Little Flower,
You are life’s testament to what she can do.
From a tiny little seed,
My proudest accomplishment is watching you bloom.
You said “He calls me his little flower and I don’t know why (but I love it),”
So let me explain:
You are like a flower,
Whose beauty we tend to take for granted,
Not realizing the amount of work, love, and care,
Just to keep you planted.
The flower is fierce,
But also very fragile,
So I’m the gardener that makes the conditions more easier to handle.
The world will cause you plenty of blue moons at night,
But let my words be the thing that fills your heart with light.
In time and over seasons,
Hopefully you come to understand,
That behind every good and bad there’s a reason.
The darkness made you resilient,
And the sunshine feeds your soul,
Mistakes will make you sad, but will also help you grow.
Who am I,
But a supporter like a fan at a game
Or a cheerleader on the sidelines?
To fully accept whatever your heart decides to do,
From a tiny little seed
To a Beautiful Flower,
My proudest accomplishment is watching you bloom.
…On A Mountain Top…
By MS
I found my love on a mountain top
Lounging beneath the sun
Resplendent, paradise like in her glory
like a (Rose) wildflower in tall grass
Beautiful…
Being the only thing caressed by
Northern Breezes
She beckons me… whispering love letters
to my soul
But my Lord stayed my movement causing me to take her in
A pleasure, my treasure… A Jewell of Create
Allowing me, Imploring me to take her in
Like
a prayer long asked for
Answered in her being created thusly,
A promise to my soul
Her created just for me
So these words of mine are my way
of being a counterpoint to her heart
like breath is intrinsically linked to our being
Ever thankful always for God gifting me
with seeing
I found my love lounging beneath the sun on a mountain top…
A New Story
By MF
A new community, new surroundings, new peers
A new school, new anxiety, new fears
A new hangout, new activities, new dangers
A new argument, new fight, new anger
A new blunt, new liquor, new pistol
A new case, new jail, new system
A new sentence, new celly, new state
A new officer, new politics, new hate
A new mentor, new program, new passion
A new computer, new laws, news flashing
A new judge, new evidence, new trial
A new witness, new acquittal, new smile
Breeze of Time
By AC
Sometimes I feel
As if my shadow has walked too far ahead,
As if I’ve been left behind to contemplate
The things I do remember
And the things I did forget.
And I notice the things that are not there;
Perhaps more than I did when they still were.
I guess it’s just part of human nature
To appreciate what we once had
Only after the present turns to past,
The past is laid to rest, and an empty hand is all that’s left.
But some things will simply never die,
They go on and on to live forever, like emotions;
Like I love you now as I loved you on that day;
Like your memory, an echo that keeps bouncing
Off of walls that every passing second shake and tremble
At the slightest breeze of time carrying your name.
You are still a reflection on a mirror
Refusing to disappear long after any reason and logic
Would deem it to be prudent to dissipate into thin air,
To become one with what’s not remembered nor forgotten,
To live only in my mind, within the confinements of my head.
Flow
By DT
Forever I can write or shine light or
let my mind develop a plight
On how to ascend or pedal up the next flight or height
with my eyes locked tight on the goals of the flow,
I write from what I imbibe.
The Institutional Man
By TT
Waking up to this new day with no sign of a sun
Only the familiar vibe of structure, aggregate, and painted metallics
Relishing the cozy confines of limited space
And every possession within reach
This is life
This is home
Who dares to be removed from it?
Closed quartered kindred spirits and a family of Free Minds
All at once insulated and liberated from the burden of society
This is leisure
Though there is no peace
All must be counted for the whole to remain secured
So if one must leave
They and the rest will mourn
For the death of simpler things gives spirit to all manner of complexity
Of course, the question becomes
Who would bear the standard in the wake of such a removal?
And what changes many care?
Then, when will the foundation begin to crumble?
Or where would anyone look back to then?
But as well, for now at least…
How is sleep to arrive with all that in mind?
To My Peeps
By JK
I want to let you know
how you made me feel tonight
Tryna convey my emotions to words
will not suffice
A simple ‘thank you’ seems mediocre
Because you deserve so much more
Your encouraging words and motivation
made my heart fall to the floor
I love you all more than I can say
your heartfelt shout outs have made my day
I’ll do my best to continue to encourage
your wonderful support makes my words want to flourish
And to my FREE MINDS CREW…
None of this would be happening if it wasn’t for you!
I appreciate the opportunity to free my mind
It’s giving me peace from all the wars inside
I look forward to the day that we’ll all be together
Writing with purpose to make this world better!
Be blessed. You are greatly appreciated
Weather’s A Person
By JP
Seasons are like people and not because they change.
They all have different traits some have snow, and some have rain.
Got to wear 3 jackets only winter for the blame.
Spring comes round to bring you summer which brings sunlight
through your window pane.
They like seasons and dislike them, they do the same with people
When your there they see no purpose; when you leave, they see they need you
Weether channels try to figure them out; people do the same to people
4 seasons 4 times through the year weather even has a sequel
Free Mind
By AC
A free mind–first and foremost:
Is it even possible?
To have a mind free enough to soar above
Any and all obstacles,
A mind as pure and strong as the hand
With which it was created,
A gift that bears gifts?
I’d be unstoppable
If my mind were as clear as the skies,
I’ve always wished to ascend,
To fly
You mean to tell me there’s something beyond the clouds?
All I have to do is get rid of my fears
And leave my past behind?
Lord knows I’ve been walking blind
Still can those eyes truly see
A mind so free?
Therein resides visions of grandeur
That surpass your sweetest dreams
Even if confined, a free mind can push through walls,
Transcend
Any bitter end
You say in my mind are ideas that even pioneers would envy?
Shake life’s restraints
Escape to a place many a good book send me
See life–
while blind to the surroundings designed only to kill desire–
with a clarity more precious than diamonds
Careful, free time surely expires
But there is nothing in this world that can stop
A free mind!
Black Girl
By RL
After Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans
Exquisite beyond wonder, woman
layers peeled back like sheets on a 100 degree night
heavy with discomfort and wet
from tears and my hearts breaking
How can this be?
my chest aches from
the heaviness of a paperback
my heart shattered and mended
so many times its walls are scars
of a pain so rich in grief
I could buy and sell the whole world!
Oh, but my soul…
Angry, no Furious, no-
What have we done?
What are we doing?
Our gorgeous black sisters,
our futures, our mothers,
our lovers, our friends, our
homes…
Know your story America!
learn that your liberty was
granted on the backs of whip
scarred Queens, in the
wombs of child mother,
in the DNA of
children
sold
on
BLOCKS
Are you not disgusted
at this system of
Hate, Marginalized,
Criminalized,
Ostracized,
Demonized,
but Unrealized?
Ah Her strength!
Her quiet yet
Screaming,
proud, righteous,
intelligent, deep,
loving, strong,
refusing to be chained any more
VOICE!
Scream White America
at the indignity you’ve
clothed your child in,
your bloody hemmed Liberty
with her torch so dazzling
in the eyes so blind they still
can’t see
Our Black Woman’s
Stars
And you Man- who G-d built
to cover, protect, live for, die for
this flesh of himself- Woman.
You’d turn your libido into
a tool of oppression, you’d
crush out the sacred soul,
the hope of a human you would call property,
because her skin glows like ebony fire-
SHAME man
I want to scream at every insult,
injury, injustice,
until my voice becomes
a sand blown desert
Oh and I will!
still…
My small thank you
in my small words
is just for you
BLACK GIRL
“Thank you, Jasmine”
A New Start
By AC
Let the desolation and frustration fill up my lungs
Like tears fill up your eyes, and also mine;
Like river waters, which turned into oceans, fill up the clouds;
Let them all fill up with content,
Until they satisfy the need in our hearts
‘Til they burst into inaudible screams, silent cries,
Streams that will somehow wash away all our sins
And provide us with just what we need to bring peace
Back to our lives.
Let frustration build up, transform, die off,
Then bring about new beginnings,
Bring about a new start.