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.
Jail
Have you ever seen something close
and thought it would never open?
Have you felt unwanted like an outsider?
Have you ever felt something close in on you but it never moves?
Have you ever been smothered to death
but can breathe freely?
Well if you haven’t
you’ve never been to prison.
What If
What if I went to school and did what I had to do?
What if I come home and got a job?
What if I hadn’t gotten locked up- what would I be doing at home?
What if I could make a big change?
What if I could tell people that jail is not a place to be?
What if I could be something real big in life?
What if I can come home and make money by writing poems?
What if someone come to me and say, “I like your poems”?
What if I could put a smile on everyone’s face when they read my poems?
What if I can go somewhere from my poems?
What if I could write a book for everyone to read?
What if lawyers come up here and tell me I’m going home?
What if the people in court can see that I’m not a bad person?
What if I tell people that this is coming from my heart?
What if I tell people that me being locked up hurts my mom and aunt?
What if someone read my poem, and they tell me that they want to help me get my poems out there so everyone could read them?
All I can say is what if.
Self Destruct
This message will self destruct in 5,4,3,2,1,
That all I been down all my life
destroying my self
making bad decisions all my life
want some weed?
yea sure
wanna start a fight?
yea sure
just the count down to my destruction
Wisdom
Is it strange that 90% of humans
see the wisdom
and promises of life
and don’t acknowledge it?
They don’t reach for the goal
that is dull
yet worth more
They reach for the shiny
worthless gold the kind
that doesn’t promise to love, care, heal
They want the money, sex, drugs,
and worthless life gold
Is it strange that they don’t look inside themselves?
and get something that is truly worth something
If You Only Knew
I know it’s time you wonder if what I say is real
It’s not manipulation it’s just simply how I feel
I know in your mind you say “this one too good to be true”
I shock MYSELF sometimes if you only knew
Some things might take time but with kindness you’ll let it flow
As the days go by and time pass, if it’s genuine we both will know
I love everything about you it’s just something about that face of yours
I know it’s not a dream but maybe an Angel in disguise
whatever it is I love it & deep down I know you do too
I don’t ever want this bond to end
Broken Promises
I have broken many promises
and have ruined peoples lives
Never met my emotions
or just ain’t take time to say hi
The promises I made may all seem like lies
When I’m down no ones around
but when I’m up they are like flies
broken promises can be repaired
once I’m finished with this time
Love
Do you know what it is
when love becomes more then a word?
Do you know how it feels
that every word you ever told and said
even think of
can’t explain that feeling you have
that you want to say so badly?
Do you know that
love is not only a word
not only a feeling
but more?
Do you know I am in love with you?
Gone But Never 4gotten
Your smile so beautiful it will knock
the sun out of the Sky—
But as I look at the Moon and Stars it
becomes impossible for me not to cry—
Now that you are gone I be stuck in a glare,
reminiscing about the times we shared—
And I be wishing to myself, hoping I could give
my life so you and your seed could be spared—
You was so BEAUTIFUL all the way around,
your Kool-Aid smile and your nice fitted shape—
You had a strong mind cause it runs through our family,
but your heart was special,
sweet like a green seedless grape—
You will “Be gone but neva 4gotten”,
and so is that Tragedy—
But I’ma go ahead and wipe away my tears
and smile, cause I know you are in Paradise,
~~ RIP Rose ~~
Brothers
Brothers, Brothers, Brothers
most of the time
they are lovers
And another thing
they are always
close to their mothers
Brothers, Brothers, Brothers
When mom leaves home
one of them always
on the phone telling on
one another
Brothers, Brothers, Brothers
can’t live with them
and can’t live without them
A New Choice
If a man want something he’s never had
He has to do something he’s never done
That means makin choices that he never made before
Doing something that opens a new door
Live a new way to have a new day
Happiness
Happiness will take you so far
Happiness will have you sitting on a star
Happiness is a feeling that comes from the heart
It can be easy to depart
And hard to break apart
Happiness can make you do
A lot of things that you never would do
Like forget you’re in a bad mood
Or forget that a fork is really a spoon
And if you never find happiness
You won’t know how it feel
You will feel lonely
With a heart full of steel
TK
Too much for me to handle
too much for her to care
She too much for me to love
but I’m always there.
Kind of flakey
kind of soft
I love her so much
I feel like I can fly
thru a wall
she is my girl
I will give her the world
She will always be in my heart
cause she’s my baby girl.