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.
The Real Me
N***** you don’t know me
all you know me for is carrying them glocks
And emptying my clip
but you don’t know
I want to become an architect
all’s you remember
Is that summer day when I
Introduced you to the street life
Huh but you don’t remember
I told you to get a scholarship
Instead of money man don’t judge me
until you know the real me
I know why you think carryin’ a glock
Is the real me because I been locked
And that’s all you know about me
But remember the times I was
Gone.
I was taking courses to
Become an architect
so instead of building a gun
I could build a house
for the fam
It’s time to put the gun down
and pick the pen up
and empower myself
My Beliefs
Arm Leg Leg Arm Head is my belief
But does my incarceration neglect my belief
or does it make my faith strong?
Because I have a lot of days and night to think
But Arm Leg Leg Arm Head is my God which depicts my thought of change
But I was told Arm Leg Leg Arm Head is forgiving
Reentry
What can I say about reentry,
It’s like coming out the womb 4 the second time
it’s a new beginning
don’t really know where 2 start
cause it’s never easy
life is always hard
When it come 2 finding jobs or just getting your life together
I learned u got 2 put some people and things behind u 2 move forward
n order 2 advance u got 2 give yourself a chance
These streets a beast
It’s like a chess game
u the king that control your army
So u always make your next move your best move
got 2 pay attention and never snooze
cause n this game u will lose
2 a world that is cruel
so it all about how u move
Got 2 stay on you’re A game at all times
watch the company u keep
cause it will put u back n a place where u don’t want 2 b
so what can I say bout reentry
it’s about change
I Miss My Mom
I love my Mom, yes I do!
I love my Mom, how ‘bout you?
I miss the way she used to cuss out my teachers
I love the way she used to ride
I love the way she was always by my side
I miss the way we used to play
I’m missing her badly every day
When she first left, I used to cry
I hate the way she had to die
Everything in life happens for a reason
It’s a big range
The way life goes
They just want me to change
I blame me for her life
I will change me for her life
I miss my Mom, yes I do!
I miss my Mom, how ‘bout you?
Promises
Endless fame and a pot of gold is what he promised for your soul
All you have to do is hold the Glock and slang that crack rock
Glistening diamonds and girls to go
But this life goes deeper
All you have to do is be a deceiver
Make a crack head a believer
Sell death to your people
But what happens to ‘I am my brother’s keeper?’
Do you keep your brother down so you can get paid for a pound?
You cook your beef with a hundred rounds
So you think you should wear a crown
But they didn’t tell you someone’s bigger and some one’s badder
Or when you fall in love that someone else had her
But now you want to fight ‘cause you love her
So you step wrong
And never make it home
This is what happened to my man Thomas
But all along that was the street’s true promise
Small Poem
I owe the world
I owe my self
I owe my son
Every piece of wealth
One day will come
When I can help
And on that day
I’ve changed myself
I owe the world!
I owe myself!
Dreamin’
Life is a game
pain is struggles
holding my thought back
brain on a muzzle
Just keep focused remain humble
Here is the winning touchdown
just don’t fumble
Stand Tall
Stand tall and keep going
What goes around come around
What goes up always come down
The same go for life
Something can bring you down
You can wait to something comes around
And bring you up to your feet
Love, life, or anything that need to be up instead of down
And if you don’t stand for nothing
You will fall for anything
So keep going around and around and up
But never down
I Believe
I succeed
I rise
I fly with the birds
I swim with the fishes
I hustle with the devil
I live with God
My back is scarred
My hands are hurt
My feet are ice
My sweat is money
Green is me
But far from it
I like girls that play at night
I like mothers that feel me
I meet your whole family
And make them believe
Hood
When I hear the word hood
It reminds me about my past
When I hear the word hood
It remind me of my fallen goons
The goons that lost their lives
due to the hood and its wars
I hate that word now because
I lost a lot of close people
Now I can only say
Rest in Peace my friends
Love ya and see ya
At the crossroad
What Is Love
Love is more than just lust and sex
Honesty and trust is what makes love best
To just care about someone
doesn’t mean you love them
but love can make you lose a friend
Love will bring tears to the toughest men
Love can make you bleed with passion
Love can make you a walking disaster
Love is something found in the strangest of places
Love is so strange the Mayans couldn’t predict it
Is it love that makes you do the things you do
or is it the fact that you know
I will always love you
I Want Love
Yesterday I got outta bed
Nothing seemed to be wrong except the fact that if had been 2 days since you called
I kept making sure that…
My phone was on…
And I don’t wanna come to the conclusion
That me and you were an illusion
Cause it would be something that I don’t think that I could handle
VERY WELL!!
I want to love!
No more pain!
I wanna hear you callin’ out my name.
I want fairytales. No more rain!
I’m ready, do you feel the same?
Because I can’t stop! Won’t stop! Till I get what I want.
Baby all that I want is you.
I want love.