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 is Life?!
By CM
What is life?
Life is beautiful
Life is hard
Life is reckless and carefree
Life is a blessing
Life is stressing
Life is adventurous
Life is scary
Life is full of loving and caring
Life is long, life is short
Life is something that can’t be taught
Life is painful, life is pleasure
Life is intricate
Life is oh so many things all combined in one
But we’ll never know the true definition
We just live it until it’s done
And although we live our lives
We can sometimes feel lifeless
Have you ever had a feeling like this?
Are you dreaming of a life to live
Or are you just living your life?
But then the question still remains…
What is Life?
Mango Tree
By MH
Imagine how being in this damn cage
Used to produce a lot of hatred, depression, rage
But 23 and 1 now?
Naw
I slow stroke books and savor each page
See, I developed myself to be
Militant minded and scholarly grounded
Maturity, my manhood, Islam….
In jail is where I found it
Forget a rose
I grew a mango tree out of steel and concrete
Myam Erica
By TH
Myam Erica
Where you’re either struck
With poverty late or born
With next to nothing..
Where your wealth is determined
By what drugs you’re smoking..
No father figure,
So the hustlers get put on pedestals,
And parents use their kids as everyday drug mules..
Myam Erica
Where I’m labeled as a product of my environment
Conditioned to believe my power came from a prison sentence..
No hood affiliation is seen as a major flaw..
And our number 1 goal in life
Is to simply break the law..
Myam Erica
Where we learn more from music than our school books..
And the first thing we practice is not a jumpshot,
But our “cold Killer look”..
No time for dull moments, so we search for our fun..
But the games we play
Always deal with bullets and a gun..
See, I could paint a vivid picture
With a brushstroke like Picasso..
Or turn experience into music
Like your favorite singer with their piano..
Show off my intelligence
And let them know we can better us..
But that would go against everything taught in…
My America
If I Was a Perfect Man
By DB
If I was a perfect man
I would never fall but always stand
For the things I believe and the ones I don’t understand
If I was a perfect man
My manners would be different
Like yes, no, and excuse me ma’am
If I was a perfect man
I would drink out of a glass and not a can
And greet my peers by shaking hands
If I was a perfect man
I would never tell lies to gather fans
Or turn my back against my mans
Or do destructive things to increase or advance
If I was a perfect man
If I was a perfect man
I wouldn’t fly just to land
But soar across to prove that I can
Somewhat be a perfect man
Two Sides
By GD
My eyes look dry
But truly my heart cries
I’m peaceful to society’s eye
But inside I fight my demon’s cry
Two sides to each story
Two sides to a book
I’m an ex-felon but truly not a crook
Drugs have no need in my life
All I need is
Free-Minds
Books
And a pen to write
Run Away Clock
By AG
Just yesterday it seems I was a child experiencing fun
Rude awakening to the responsibilities of an adult that’s twenty-one
Being a kid is wonderful, yet I didn’t believe the hype
Now that I’m grown I dread reality, classified the immature type
Every second counts when indulged in a race
Time is of the essence, which prefers the faster pace
The day welcomes the moon, as the sun retires the night
Twenty-four hours quickly vanishes right before your sight
I need a stopwatch to put life on hold
From losing teeth to going gray the swift approach to getting old.
Cherish good moments, be sure to make them last
Months transform to years as memories come to past
Thoughts clouded by anger as I plot revenge with a rock
The task at hand is to destroy the life of the Run Away Clock
Me + You + Jail
By IS
I remember those days we used to kick it after dark
Kissin’ your neck, my head laid on your heart
Neva thought dat love could ever be split apart
Guess I was wrong cuz dis shyt is just the start
I’m realizing that fantasizing is timeless
Living in this cell
My only comfort is rhyming
Yeah, girl I miss u
Know dat I miss you and all the shyt we done been through
It’s like my love unraveling like some tissue
Emotion
By SK
Sometimes I wish I was heartless
So I wouldn’t care
Use a black hole to replace the red muscle
So I won’t fear when you ain’t there
And I won’t have to struggle
I need the potion for no emotion
Or to put them in a bottle to go with the ocean
Don’t want to be happy—I’ll end up sad
Don’t want to feel alright—I’ll end up mad
Don’t want them—kick them out the door
What the H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks
I need emotion for?
In This Game
By IS
Just a youngin’ in this game
Livin’ life was a struggle
In this skool every day
Getting knowledge was my hustle
Was trying to be a geek
Wasn’t trying to be a dummy,
I was trying to get dis money
And moms always said
You gotta strive to be successful
So I did what I did
‘Cuz I was tired of living stressful
I was tired of being broke
And I was tired being hungry
And living in this world,
The only way was getting money
Purple & Gold Passion
By DW
Purple and gold skies
Magnificent
As my heart yearns for more
I close my eyes
Collect my thoughts
Think about my passion for living
Am I living?
Through several windows
And fences
I see
Purple and gold skies
My passion
Title 16
By KC
The title I was given does not make me a champion
Nor would I brag or boast about it
Under 18 down in the jail,
And now all of a sudden DC does not give bail
Never thought I’d be here
Writing this poem
Or seeing my mother through a TV screen
Talking through a phone
I’m considered a minor
But in an adult environment
My family can’t save me now
The food is garbage and the jumpsuits are bright
It’s been months since I’ve even been outside
Commissary always needs money
And instead of the days getting easier day by day
It gets harder day by day
The title I received
Instead of a championship belt
It’s replaced by shackles and handcuffs
Title 16 allows juveniles in Washington, DC to be tried and sentenced as adults for certain offenses.
Abstruse
By SK
Me as a person, I’m ABSTRUSE
I let the littlest things turn into self mental abuse
I try to abscond from my problems but it’s no use
Use drugs to solve them
I let my friends induce
Some say I’m strange
At times I feel insane
But I know I’m sane
I just don’t think the same
Life in the fast lane
With no seatbelt
It’s an ABSTRUSE game
You’re going to need help
Yeah, ABSTRUSE