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.
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
4 My Son
By DJ
Bundle of joy
A beautiful baby boy
I want you to know the sky is the limit
We got Obama and I got you
I know I mess up sometimes
You will learn that’s what humans do
Just know daddy loves you
When you hurt I hurt
When you need I need
Right now you don’t understand
But I hope when you do I will be there
And all of your childhood memories are fond of me
Not like mine
I never knew my dad
And he ain’t know me
This is something I don’t want to repeat
I fought so hard to get a street name
A little bit of street fame
But you have my last name
My blood
Just know Daddy loves you
C.H.A.N.G.E
By SR
Change to me means Choosing Hands And Not Guns Every time
My past involves quick tempers
Over problems that were simple
Running to a gun to end someone’s life
Instead of duking it out and hearing you won in our fight
Our human bodies have been formed
To easily recover from bumps n bruises
But a close life lost you don’t hear who won and who loses
You hear who’s gone and who’s choosing
If they sloppy, the top bunk or the bottom
Seldom they got away
But if so you’re a walking body
No dome, no tone, just bones
Who wants a lifeless life?
I don’t
I want change
You’ll see a new man!
Judge Not What You See
By Officer B.
Juvenile Unit Correctional Officer, DC Jail
In the 5 years I’ve been here on this C4B juvenile unit I have met many kinds of young men. Many who claim to be HEARTLESS and RUTHLESS and by their crimes you would believe this also but then you get to know them, talk with them, learn about them and their families or lack thereof. Many have made mistakes in which they can’t come back from. Even though they may not say it I know they wish they could change their circumstances. Most are from the streets if not all and what their peers think of them means so much to them. But what someone should have told them that taking something from people, hurting people or taking a life does not make you a man. They were told that they were men too early in life. They have a lot of maturity to go to reach Manhood and the learning does not stop because of age. You should always try to learn and grow as a person. What I am saying is that out of all the young men that I have met they all were looking for LOVE and UNDERSTANDING from someone. No (MOM) or (DAD) in some circumstances can change a person in so many ways that we cannot imagine how it could affect a person’s life. After all we’re only human, born to make mistakes.
Sometimes they are really hard to recover from.
C.O. B.
Change in the Air
By IS
I can feel a change in the air
A change that isn’t fair
Taking something that I love so much
My pride and my honor that can never be touched
Change could be a good thing
Or change could be tough
It can leave you wondering
Wondering if it’s enough
Are you changing for yourself
Or changing for someone else?
Never will I change to impress
But sometimes change happens for the best
Changing your mindset in order to progress
Before and After
By BS
Before
My little brother was burned in the fire
After
I had felt that life could get no better
I felt that no one could have a better brother
I acted as if I lost my best friend
I wished I never had to experience this
I just wish I had one wish
We Are Only Human
By IS
We as people always make mistakes
Not understanding the consequences until it’s too late
And never thinking about the risks that we make
Until that day comes when it’s too late
We are only human
No one person is perfect
Wishing we can take back what we did
Knowing it wasn’t worth it
Hoping and praying for a second chance at life
And forgiven for something that won’t happen twice
We are only human
Why consider me a monster without even knowing me
Looking at me from my mistake by continuously scolding me
I feel a great deal of remorse for my mistake
But when looking into your eyes all I see is hate
All I see is punishment and the quality is great
We… Are… Only… Human…