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.
My Life
By BP
My life
Living it bad and doing it wrong
I need a change just like that poor man on the street
In and out this life
It’s like a wish
I wish and I wish for a change
Losing my friends and family
For that change I wish and I wish
I can change
Seeing my mother cry
And losing me and my life
And mama losing me
That change
That change
Got that change
A Pencil In My Hand
By IS
Put a pencil in my hand
And a sketch pad in front of me
My mind’s so focused
It feels like the whole world is under me
My imagination goes wild
And my hand thinks for itself
Listening to what my mind thinks
And stuck on nothing else
Change (Till I Can Show My Momma)
By KC
They say change is easy but I disagree
Judge acts like I’m the first
Though it’s been millions of brothas before me
I believe change is harder for some
Cuz not all these dudes come from the slums
Noodles change to lobster
KoolAid turn to wine
Yeah it sounds fine
Worries the size of dimes
I swear I wish I could
But I realize the truth
I’ma keep trying
Till I can show my momma
That I changed
The Reason
By CR
I once thought that I’d be right now out there with my men
But now I only think about the tragedies I’ve been through with my men
Almost been killed more than my hands can count
And still I’m out there doing me
Now I see the reason why Allah put me here
To get more knowledge and change my mindset
I can say that I’ve been getting knowledge
But my mindset is still stuck on them streets
I Gotta Make It
By DC
I’m chasing satisfaction on a broken leg
Steady treading water on a steady shore
With a covert attitude, but an aura that depicts pure
I walk a lonely road, but yet I’m steady fighting demons
But if I keep my eyes shut, it will defeat the point of seeing
So I conquer all that tends to conquer human beings
The brain is real intricate…tends to make you muse
Thoughts come tangled up…some hard to un-loose
I’m a warrior, not a soldier
I don’t get ready, I stay ready
Pursuit of happiness? Anyone know the path?
How can you value or cherish something you never had?
How can you understand a language that leads to many places?
Or recognize a code that resembles so many faces?
Life is like a maze, victory is timed
So I keep my head up as if I’m waiting on a sign
Only ten toes on the ground
Because it’s the same fight – different round!
They tell me not to steal…
But every opportunity—I must take it!
And life is dealt raw…
But as for mine, I gotta make it!
Being on Lock
By DJ
A start from home
I started alone
Very far place like America to Rome
Everything posing
Watching all four walls close in
Behind a door that never opens
Time never stops
23 hours of being on lock
Could have been worse—could’ve ended up in a box
But this is the story of being on lock.
Incarcerated individuals placed on “lockdown” are kept alone in their cell for 23 hours per day and given one hour for exercise and recreation. Since writing this poem, DJ has returned to the DC Jail’s general population.
A Mother’s Love
By IS
Your mother’s love is tender and soft
You’re her employee and she’s the boss
She gave you life and gives you love
Everlasting joy and never-ending hugs
She was there from the start
And you’ll be there until her end
She’s my mother, my sister,
And my favorite best friend
Yours, The Reader (Perception)
By AL
See, deception will mask its own perception
The seed you sow
Is the seed you’ll show
So that’s the seed I’ll know
So try and dig it up
But your roots are what I see
My reactions to you
Your reactions to me
So you can cut it down
But you cannot un-plant a tree
So I am not wrong when I sing your song
But sing it better than you
What God puts together
No one can tear apart
Because it’s connected
Heart to heart
See, deception will mask its own perception
Don’t Nothing Change But the Clothes I’m In
Happy Valentines Day – XOXO
By CM
I think about it all the time
What we could have been
I tried to show you what I felt
But you couldn’t comprehend
Your smile, your eyes, your laugh, your size,
All of the above
Helped to bring me what I didn’t understand
That thing that they call love
The little time I had
To try to make you mine
Made me realize your all around beauty
And I think about it all the time
If I could change what I did
It would only be for you
Steadily hoping that you’ll still be there
When my time is through
Today is a Bad Day
By MS
Today is a bad day
I wish I’d never had one before
But bad days consume my life
I have no escape from them
Today is a day when I wonder…
Where is the support for us brothers in the struggle?
When I ask you for your friendship while doing this number
Do you realize what an incredible emotional sacrifice it is?
Do you realize the pain and the never-ending loneliness
That attaches itself to my heart and soul?
Do you realize that yes, you are in this struggle too?