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.
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Love
In Love is to hate in a love way
To start from the bottom and work your way to the top
Love is way good but you must have dislikes
because if you come to a relationship with everything right then it ends wrong
because you have everything that a relationship needs to build
so don’t start from the top go for the bottom
Build your love, don’t start with love
always have something to bring you close then to take you apart
Black Boy
Black boy, black boy
What you gon’ do when they come for you?
You better run, you better hide
You better try and save your life
But you better not fight
You will die, there’s no might
Do you really want to sleep forever tonight?
But if you run and you hide
They will find you
They will kill you
So what is there to do, Black boy?
Know when to run and know when to fight
But don’t run, ‘cause you’re scared to lose your life
And don’t fight ‘cause you want to take theirs
Black boy is the call that you’re known by
You hit that pac cause you wanted your own high
You listen at night
But you’re frightened by your own cry
Tortured by your own life
But you know you can win
Just hold it in
Black boy, black boy
You would leave, but he’s already there
In fact, he’s everywhere
It’s okay
You listen and hide
Black boy, black boy
Oh you run
But there’s no where to hide
Black boy, black boy
It rangin, he’s already here
Okay, you’ll do it
You face the enemy
You look around
A weapon is nowhere to be found
The place you were in starts to spin
Then you look up and it’s a mirror
Black boy, black boy
You were runnin’ and hidin’ all along
The enemy was the inner me
Black boy, black boy
What you gon’ do when they come for you?
Pain
Pain is what I feel, pain is the water
Being released from my eyes as I write
Pain, pain is my mother’s motivation to keep believing
I can change which I’m doin’
Pain, pain is the wrongful stir in my soul
That changes rethinking
Pain, pain is my anger
To be more, to be stronger, to be smarter
Pain, pain, is blood sweat tears, love, lust, envy
Pain, pain, is what must come to grow, to learn, to build
Pain, pain is all I’ve been feeling since
That day
(As I rise so will the pain)
My Race
My Race, My Race, is so divided
Sometimes I cry, with fears I can’t try
My Race, My Race is so envious, so selfish,
So arrogant to everything
My Race, My Race, was once extraordinary
Purposeful beautiful intelligent creative investable
My Race, My Race
Where do I go with hope, with dreams
With support, with sense, in life, without my Race
My Race will rise, with strength, sense, responsibly
With creator, with loyalty my race
What must fall must rise
My race
Special Love
Being in love means
no cheating
No fighting each other
Always listening to what each other has to say at all times
Respecting each other
And loving one another
Love is special
It’s a feeling of joy
Love makes you happy
And love makes you sad
But at the end of the day
You glad
Because you can love
Love is like a dream
And it’s not always what it seems
But it’s a good feeling
When you can love
A human being
Ashley, I’m Done Sorry
I guess you lied about everything you said
I can’t lie, you caught me slipping
Overlooking your position and lusting off of your appearance
Created love in the making
Not understanding it was more in the picture
Words can’t explain the hatred, pain, sorrow and despair in my heart
Sometimes I wonder how you feel in the dark
I gave you the keys to my heart
I thought you said the cheating would stop
No tears, you should have ran to the doctor
Look at everything you deprived me of
Life, time, age, sex, kids
I feel degraded, useless, pointless
And you say it happened before we started dating
No more lies
You broke the word “trust”
It’s been two years now and all we do is fuss and cuss
I understand now
Ashley, I’m done…Sorry
Ashley, I’m done…Sorry
I hear you crying
But it’s no healing
I see you dying
But it’s no stopping it
It’s all because of you
Ashley
I’m
Done
Sorry
I’m Young But I’m Old
I’m young, but old
I’ve seen more personality than slave ships
Just call me “Incognito”
My words are so pure they touch lost souls
I’m deep down in your bones, like marrow
I’m the lost voice that cried out for help through poetry
W.E.B. Dubois said that words are power
No more being “deprived,” I’m here!
“Despair,” I made it
So many trials and tribulations, I can’t let go
You call this “redemption”
No one sees my struggle for success
So I believe and try my best
I walk lightly, but…
I’m digging for knowledge like an archaeologist
Time is short, so life is fast
Life is hard, so death is easy
I’m young, but old
I’ve seen this world once before my last
I hope no one heard that
The lights are dim and the time is near
Some one…let these words open their ear
I’ve paid attention for years
Now it’s time for attention to pay me
My soul is old
But my heart is new
I’m looking for the lost youth
I’m young, but old
Born
1987
Bright lights, new voices
The smell of fresh oxygen
1987 I was born naked, wet and slimy
Crying out, “Why have you confined me?”
Off in this world, where they judge you the most
Faced with so many trials and tribulations
Two years old and still on the breast
It’s a struggle for serving
So Mama tries her best
At the age of 15, I join the rest
Reckless and dangerous
With the mind that this is how you make it
Another Black statistic from 15 to 24
They said I’d never succeed
So they labeled me to the streets
Never will I leave the streets
I’m the key for the lost to succeed
Just bear with me
Since the day I asked, “Why have you confined me?
The word “Born” must I take you
Brothers, Oppress, Return, Neglect
Not this young intelligent, smart, powerful brother
Believe, Opportunities, Repel, Negativity
Loyalty
Just hit the bricks and my n****s tryna hit a move
showed me bricks gave me money strapped me with a tool
baby mamma trippin’ she tellin’ me not to be a fool
family keep stressin’ how important it is to finish school
loyalty playing the game on 2 sides got me real confused
I feel like an addict to the streets
cuz my mind tellin’ me to go
but the little man inside my chest
hittin me so hard he might leave a bruise
A Lesson Learned
In this life you’ll never really know
who is who or what is what
If you shake someone up enough
they’ll pop like mountain dew
That’s why you can never trust a human being
because even the person
with the same flesh as you
may unintentionally make mistakes and bad choices
They say a devil you know
is better than an angel you don’t know
But what makes matters worse
is when you don’t know yourself
What Happened?
Today is yesterday
And I still haven’t woke up
So tomorrow is today’s night
And the day after, after tomorrow
Will be today
And I still haven’t woke up
Ten minutes ago was an hour
And an hour ago was 30 minutes ago
But 62 seconds ago was last night
And I still haven’t woke up
Did the sun rise?
Did the sun set?
Did last night happen?
Why won’t my eyes open?
Okay wait…
If yesterday was January 28th
But when I went to sleep it was May 7th
And today is August 21st
That only can mean one thing…
This morning was the day it all happened
So the plane didn’t land
The funeral was today
The plug is still in the outlet and the TV is off
The bathroom light is on
So what happened?
Love Lesson
She kissed me
She hugged me
It was time to say goodbye
As her cab arrived
So did my heart ache
I guess she was done
She told me sorry don’t always work
Da night before
I cried a thousand tears
And today none could fall
Love hurts
I guess the scar on her heart—
Could heal now
But the one on mines
Is a deep cut
Someone once told me
You never know what you got
Til it’s gone
And now dat she’s gone
I want her back
And just like that
The cab pulled off