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.
A Treasure
By YA
I have spent the last 4 years searching for meaning in my short life
Trying to understand why life has been hard for me
Trying to understand why I have endured so much pain and suffering
Removed from the people I love with whom I can never be
Asking myself if some day my luck will change I’ll find happiness
And in this search I realized that luck does not exist
That each person’s story has already been written before they are born
That although my short and sad life is not what I want right now it will soon start to grow
That although in the eyes of others I am the worst that could have been
I continue to be special
That there are people who love me and want the best for me;
People in whom live true love, suffering love
He who does not only search for his own but also that of others
Love that doesn’t irritate
Love that doesn’t hold a grudge
Love that bears all things, believes in everyone
Love that waits, love that supports
Forgiving love
The one and true God’s love
In my short and difficult life I have found that
And the greatest thing is that I still have a lot to live
A lot to find and a lot to learn
Dedicated to my mother.
Lost Part of Me
By A.H.
I can’t believe that you would leave me here
With only my pillow to catch my tears
My biggest fear was always losing you,
and now that you’re gone I just don’t know what to do
My momma told me that some girls just aren’t strong
but I believe you’ve been gone
Truthfully I still don’t know why?
Is it my fault or could you be in love with another guy?
Girl you was the only 1 that gave me a natural high
Now every time I think of you I feel a burning within my eyes
They say that every dog has its day
You had me down on my knees begging you to stay
I can feel you fading away from me
My face is turning blue with every word I speak
It’s the thought of another man loving you that makes me weak
Can’t you see since I’ve been gone I’ve lost a part of me
Wide Awake
By VM
From a child to a teenager
From a teenager into an intelligent, strong young gentleman.
Who cares about a lot that strive for everything,
Who don’t like the easy way.
Who push himself until it’s all over.
Who walks by himself and don’t fear nothing
he sees not even a lion or a tiger could tear this heart apart too strong for his own good.
Was blinded to this life before, but now I’m too wide awake to sleep.
Those snakes strike like cobras you better find out,
before your time out, gotta stay awake.
I can sleep when I die; I’m wide awake to miss too much.
Complete Me As A Man
By AH
She told me she loved me
Then told me she hate me
She told me I let the block change me
4 better or 4 worse
Do you remember those words?
She said a girl like her I do not deserve
And maybe she’s right
And maybe I’m wrong
But I been searching for this type of love 4 too long
That’s why I’m holding on 4 dear life
Hoping to get a chance
To make her believe that I can be a better man
As rough as I am and as crazy as this may seem
I am still scared to let you know the real me
But I’m tired of being tired
And I’m ready to take a chance
Because you are my girl and you complete me as a man
Mamma
By GB
The woman that raised me since birth,
the same woman that cleaned me after I’ve been playing in dirt.
She read me stories, then tucked me into bed,
and when I done wrong, she’d never hesitated to go across my head.
When I was ill or came down with a cold, she was my doctor,
and when I had a role in the school play, she was my director.
My mamma is great, Ma used to help me with my homework, and even a spelling test.
Then Ma would send me off to school with a smile & kiss,
and she’d say, “Don’t worry I know you’ll do your best.”
My mother’s cooking is amazing; everything is delicious and made with love.
I know there’s a God, ‘cause my mother is a gift from the heavens above.
Ma was there when that girl broke my heart,
She’s the one that repaired it, and said, “This is just the start.”
I can go on & on about how good my mother is, but this poem will never be done.
So never take your mother for granted, you only get one.
A wise woman said that, “that’s why I can’t imagine life without her…
I just don’t wanna.”
She’s my rock, the leader of my support team,
some call her L, some call her auntie,
but I call her Mamma
Suicide
By AJ
Suicide… I’m going insane. I can’t control my thinking
I wake up in the middle of the night sweating rivers from crazy dreaming
It’s a problem, a problem dat I cannot take care of at the moment
But it’s been on my mind all day and it won’t go away.
I can’t control it!
Suicide… It’s 1 of many things that comes to your head
Depressed, down, stressed, and sad. You’re like, “I’m better off Dead.”
NO! Please don’t, it’s really not dat bad. Please don’t slit your vein.
STOP! And think about it, about your loved ones, come on use your brain.
And you’re like, “no” I really have no use here on earth… I’m hopeless
Just please put down the razor, let’s talk…just focus
Have you ever heard the saying coincidence is GOD?
Way to stay anonymous
Well believe it and let the situations play out because it’s up to him
You can’t do nothing about it
Because whatever’s meant to happen, trust me, its gonna happen
So please don’t try to be no superman, batman, or no captain
Just know that with time comes a solution
So if it don’t come out the way you expected
Don’t go looking for retribution.
Clear your mind, get some air… or take a ride
Because it’s really worthless… to commit SUICIDE!
Don’t do IT!
This poem is for those people who got so many problems going dat they think about committing suicide. That’s just selfish. What if for example you commit suicide and then your parents do it, then your kids do it, and so one. You can really start a chain reaction. Understand that what you do affects your loved ones. People it’s not worth killing yourself about a problem you can’t do nothing about. God is not gonna put nothing on you that you can’t bear. So keep your head up and know that whatever happens happen. It was a decree from God. So you can’t change what God has already planned.
Thoughts
By RD
Drowning not from water but from thought.
Can’t stop thinking, can’t stop from deep thought.
Sometimes I think too hard and make the situation worse
Sometimes I think so much,
the thing I started thinking about I forget what it is.
Like I can be thinking about bananas, but can be talking about my ears.
Trying to stay on subject but I’m thinking too much
So this poem I will leave incomplete,
But really…who cares!
It Seem
By TO
It seem like I only can write about love
Cause I love too much
I didn’t know love make you feel like you’ve been struck
Struck by lightning and make you die
I didn’t know love make you cry
The only way I don’t stress
Is when I’m prayin’ and writing some kind of poem
I wanna be outside but not in no storm
It seem like I’m down and out
When I should be up and about
It seem like love ain’t for me
It like love ain’t ‘pose to be
Love hurt but people act like they can’t see
It seem like life upside down
Or like some people are clowns
The Flight of Love
By RW
Why are you willing to love?
Because if you are willing to love you are willing to get hurt,
and if you are willing to get hurt you are willing to feel pain,
and if you are willing to feel pain you are willing to cry,
and if you is willing to cry…
Then you might react, and it may not be in a good way.
How can you tell someone you love them and cheat on them and smile right in their face?
Love is the reason why my friend caught his two cases.
Love is like an airplane.
It can take you many places, but when it land you may not be content with your destination.
Need Some Help
By AH
These walls are closing in slowly but surely
Everyday it’s getting harder 4 me to breath
It’s like I’m not the man I once used to be,
but I know they won’t believe me
My heart screams 4 love, but it’s ignored every time
What will it take 4 me to truly unwind?
I guess I’m scared to let the world know the real me
Could it be that I’m my own worst enemy?
If these walls would talk they would tell a deep story
About a boy that grew up lonely and hungry
With a tear stained pillow and a heart full of hate
With an empty stomach and a heart full of broken faith
No guidance nor supervision
Never told to be quiet, shut up and listen.
A man before my time
Lived hard before I even got a chance to live
I remember telling myself that something’s gotta give
There’s no greater pain than a neglected child’s
No love in my house hold and u expect me to smile
Come on, let’s be real, I am to you what I am to everybody else
A troublesome youth that needs some help
Thinkin’
By AT
See ma I was thinking
How I been in trouble so many times
‘N you was there
I wish I can take back them times
‘N show you I care
Not just by staying out of trouble
But education-wise
I just want to show you
The next time I will shine!