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.
I Once Was A Rascal
By W.W (aka Word Play)
Yeah I once was a rascal
Cuz coming up in the hood is a hassle
Make it out Boy I have to
Cuz the pillars are fallen
And n***** move in procession
So I’m askin’ the question
To use words as profession
So my thoughts and my words clash
Hear the percussion
Still got a lot to learn
Just say I’m under construction
So in my mind I think mayhem
In my heart it beats rhythm
I try to be solemn
Right now wrong column
Combat with the problem
Or canvass the rascal
Cuz he’s too much of a hassle
Inner Self
By J.M.
Now I’m just sitting here wondering how so many people in today’s society live life day by day without a real understanding of their self, such as knowing who they are or what they’re worth! Now the reason I say this is because me, as a young Muslim man, I was once in society and I never knew who I really was really because I was always living up to others’ expectations, playing the role of my alter ego. But I’ve come to the conclusion that egos come from two things: (A) Fear and (B) Hope. The reason is because a person, no matter who it is, always fear something/someone or rejection (disapproval) and for hope you all know what hope means. It’s self-explanatory. So you know it’s best to know yourself before anything because without having a good understanding of yourself, it’ll be hard to understand somebody else! So look within yourself and find the qualities you hold.
Note: Every quality has two sides: good-n-bad! And learn what you‘re worth so you’ll know what the next person is worth and be able to communicate on the same level!
Una Amistad / A Friendship
By L.V.
Una amistad como la que tú me ofreces
Es difícil de encontrar,
Reconoceré que me gustas
Y me gustaría que tú en mi confiaras.
Tal vez pienses que estoy loco
Pero no dejo de pensar en ti ni un poco
Déjame demostrarte que mis sentimientos son sinceros,
Déjame conocerte ya verás que soy verdadero.
Una amistad como la tuya es con la que yo siempre esperé,
La espera ha terminado
Tú estás de mi lado
Es algo extraño como mis pensamientos son controlados por ti.
A friendship like the one you offer me
Is difficult to find,
I’ll admit that I like you
And I’d like for you to trust me.
Maybe you think I’m crazy
But I don’t stop thinking about you, not even a little
Let me show you that my feelings are sincere,
Let me get to know you and you will see that I’m true.
A friendship like yours is what I’ve always waited for,
The wait has ended
You are at my side
It’s strange how my thoughts are controlled by you.
I Sleep, I Dream, Without a Physical Movement
By N.H.
We
ascend up into the atmosphere of wisdom
while the radiation of its light causes us to unfold into
our perfection as a caterpillar unfold from its incubation period
into a butterfly so yes it is we who
can also fly above and leave our rambunctious ways
to pass away.
I SLEEP, I DREAM, WITHOUT A PHYSICAL MOVEMENT,
I stand behind the podium uplifting the minds of the benighted, speaking righteousness, putting a smile on those who are depressed, motivating the
fools to think wisely. Yes it is possible so let’s not
become a failure, instead a triumph.
I SLEEP, I DREAM, WITHOUT A PHYSICAL MOVEMENT,
We dwell in peace among each other, we sing, dance,
and love one another as a family, we all have a heart that is huge, huge enough to keep everyone of
us afloat just like the constellation that float among us at night, we are the inspiration out of own
generation, the ineluctable light that emanates the
world to its fullest creation and the torchbearer of
civilization so yes it is we who can make this dream
come true and be what we are created to be.
Don’t Listen To Them
By D.A.
In this world where negativity happens to play a role in your life
Keep your focus on the things that’s good
When someone approaches you with words that are not nice
If you have an ambition to go after a goal that you think you can achieve
Set your goal and you must believe
Keep your mind positive because you are what you think
And know that you can leave a legacy
That can stain like a pen when it releases ink
They say a positive mind is contagious
So why not spread the disease
And know you can become whatever you want to be in life
All you have to do is believe.
When I Heard the Bad News
By D.T.
When I heard my man got kill
Something like brother
I ain’t believe when I hear
Man I couldn’t think straight.
The hurt I felt
I cry tears in a bucket
when I heard that s***
Confined
By D.H.
I’m confined within a place
Where there’s no such thing as right
The days are always dark and gloomy
Like there’s no such thing as light
Respect does not exist
And violence is a must
Friends become your enemy
There is no one you can trust
Thieves, murderers
And some of the worst people to ever exist
I have witnessed beatings, stabbings
And other things that I’ll never forget
I’m confined within a place
Where silence is considered a threat
Manners do not exist
So you must watch where you step
The tension is always high
So it’s important to stay on guard
The only way to pass time
Is by playing basketball or cards
Getting on the phone can be very dangerous
Especially if you are next
Being distracted in such a hostile environment
Will be something you regret
I’m confined within a place
Where all hope is lost
Depression becomes inevitable
And my tears continuously fall
Is this place really hell?
It’s kind of hard to decide
This is something I must endure
As long as I’m confined
Nocturnal
By L.B.
This is a color that done so much for me good and bad.
It made me have a deep hate for red.
It gave and took so many of my homies.
It gave me a life to live by and to live in.
It gave me a block and a street.
It made me family and enemies.
But the best thing I ever did was give it up.
Life Story
By A.R.
How do I start my life story?
Should I start when I popped out my Mother in 1994
or do I start on the day when my Father walked out the door
maybe I’ll start on the playground
where ears were covered to block out the sound of gun sound
where a body could be found where I play
and police harass me and friends all day
writin’ my life in poetry is hard if you have nowhere
to start
Wait I can start….
When I slept with the bathroom light on
because I was scared of the dark
or even when I got beat up in the park
because I wouldn’t share my chalk
or how I was laughed at in school
because I wore shoes with no socks-
Sometimes, how do I write poetry bout my life?
When half the time I don’t know if where me and my family
Goin’ sleep at night
or was I going to be alive the following night
and make it to sunlight.
Okay, hold on, I got it get ready to take notes
starting at 10-
when I seen crack addicts sleep in the hallway
high off the drugs they smoked the previous day
when teachers in school called me dumb-
because of my test grades
So How do I start my life story?
When I can start from so many places
So, you pick like your favorite food on a menu
until then my life story is to be continued….
A Time to Realize
Dedicated to the struggle:
It was a time to realize that Mom or Dad can’t do this with you
when you know you in like the wind
that’s when it just begun
when you step in R an’ D it’s either G.P. or P.C.,
A Time to Realize I’m over the “quack”
the place you rode past maybe a thousand time,
A time to realize damn I ain’t got no money for a paid lawyer
funds was tight out there.
A Time to realize is that broad that you was saving
going to be there for you an’ do a Bid with you,
A Time to realize I’m ‘bout to get this or that many years,
A Time to realize you can get all the visits, phone time and letters
but when I get out the feds it might halt
A Time to realize I can get shipped to a low, medium, medium high or USP
A Time to realize I can end up anywhere around the world and know no one
A Time to realize I got to get my s*** together an’ focus on my case
and stop chasing that broad an’ forget about my men
and prepare to go take the sentence like a man
and rebound and make something out of it
A Time to realize
Untitled (Sometimes)
Sometimes I just want to cry
Put my pride to the side
And just hide
Tired of living a lie
But this once lie has got me by
Tho I walk thru the valley of
The shadow of death
I close my eyes and hold my breath
I chase demons and play tag
With the devil
The grave that’s dug
I dug with my own shovel
I wish I would have listened
A real long time ago
That way I would know
The path I’m hidin’ down
Is not the right path to go
So what do I do now?
Hands together, knees on the ground
Today I would make a change
Because today is a new day
And now I know
Where there is a will
There is a way