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.
Reaction to Dark
**This is a reaction to the book Dark, by one of our Members**
As I read my eyes get heavy,
as I break the sound of the barrier,
as I get to the end of the book,
as I wonder what’s going to happen,
as I wish I can make it up before I get there,
as I wish I can be there,
as I wish I was him and he was me.
As the light shines it gets darker,
as I get to the last page its beginning to end,
as I flip the last page,
as I wonder even more than before,
as I stop to think but my lips keep reading,
as I get to the last word
this is what happens?
I like the book
BUT THE ENDING SUCKS
find part two of Dark!
A Gorilla, Not a Fish
I am a gorilla walking in the jungle, but I tame myself. I control my action and watch my mouth by thinking before I speak. Also educate myself to the highest level as possible.
When I get mad I feel like an untamed animal ready to go Rambo. I don’t like to fight if I don’t have to. My mother taught me how to control myself and don’t let people get the best of me.
When I feel rage building up I either call my mom or sister, listen to music, or stay alone and take a walk.
Forgive Me….
Never thought things would turn out this way
I don’t know I guess maybe time has changed ya
Hope you don’t be a stranger
You know you are still my baby
Even after death you will still be my baby
I think I’m goin’ crazy fallin’ in the darkness
If I ever see you again please don’t be heartless
I’m going through some dark phase
Everything ain’t right I’m just havin’ complicated days
Tired of being an inmate all I see is inmates
I’m tryin’ to put us together in my blurry image
Can’t believe we are so apart from each other
I feel like I’m a ground and you are a sky full of stars
Wish I would get to you, be with you, but unfortunately
I’m trapped in these walls. Suffocating.
Lately it’s been very difficult just being me
Please forgive me.
Peer Pressure Is Like a Drug
Hey come on its goin be alright
Just take one puff
I guarantee if you hit this weed
your life won’t be so rough
Peer Pressure is like a drug
I know you see that car right there
deres no one in it, all you have to do is hop in
come on I won’t tell you nothing wrong
I am your friend
Peer Pressure is like a drug
come on aint nobody lookin
go ahead and snatch that lady purse
you goin get away
no one would get hurt
Peer Pressure is like a drug
once you get a dose of it
you will get addicted
or would you?
Past Hunt You Down
fictional rendition of a man’s loss of his son
It was a rainy day, not just rainy but a bad day as well
Matter of fact, it was the saddest and worst day of my life
Eyes closed, head down, black suit all soaked up with rain
Everything was moving so slow
My mind was empty except for anger and pain
I know I told you I’ll be there for you
Please forgive me my son
I had no idea my past would hunt you down instead of me
God, why him? Why not me? He was only ten
I quit the game, streets, hustlin, robbin
Tryin’ to be a real man
He was all I had, he didn’t do no wrong to nobody
But why?
He didn’t do anything to deserve a bullet in his forehead
If he was alive, he would’ve been playin’ football for some college
He used to love playing catch with his old man in the park
I told him I was gonna buy him a car when he turned 18
Now look at me, I’m trapped in these walls
Crying with pain every second of my life
Crying for my son ‘cause I miss him so bad
Crying for forgiveness
So when I die I could be in Heaven with my son
Please forgive me God, I know I had a choice to make
Now I’m doing life for a life ‘cause he had to die for my son
Streets
Just cause I’m from the streets
Does it mean I can’t make it?
Just because I don’t have money
Does it mean I should take it?
Cause I made mistakes
Does it mean I can’t be great?
Cause I want to succeed
Does that mean I’m fake?
The answer is No
Cause I will make it
I will succeed
And I’m not givin’ up
Until I do
Looking In The Mirror
Coming home to a whirlwind, and I’m trapped in the middle
Drugs, money and violence just to name a little
Scared to ask for help because I’m afraid of being denied
Thought I would find my own way, but I followed the wrong guide
With each step I took, I didn’t realize I was moving backwards
I wish my life was a movie and I was just the main actor
Instead of manning up and facing my fears
I cut all corners and made it my career
What will I do differently this time? I ask and I ask
Words aren’t nothing but letters put together–acting upon them is the real task
I figure I should tell on myself because I can never tell on anyone else
Maybe the right ears will hear this and I can find myself some help
New Day
It’s a new day for a new way
But I’m still stuck in my old ways
Why can’t I change, why do I stray?
Is not the question that I need today
When will I change is
But it’s hard to say
As my mind slips away
Bit by bit
I want to give up
I want to quit
But my will keeps pumpin’
My mind keeps running
And my heart keep thumpin’
It’s a new day for a new way
So Far Away From Home
So far away from home
I’m just cold and alone
With no place to go
So far away from home
I take my mother’s phone
When I ran from home
I put a note on her bed
And she thought I was dead
So far away from home
Slow Motion
Why it feels like life is like an elevator
It goes up, then it goes down
Sometimes it gets stuck
Like it is having its own technical problem
I wish I could fix it, why I couldn’t be like a mechanic
Guess I’m just a passenger, trying to be patient
Wish it was a race car, why it can’t start racing
Things in my mind won’t stop me from reminiscing
My thought feels like an anchor falling deeper and deeper
In the depth of my mind, it’s getting deeper than the ocean
Still waiting to move on forward
Why it feels like life is playing on slow motion
The Vault
Locked away deep down inside
Is where my treasure lay
And my secrets hide
So dear, sacred to me it needs two locks
Not when the most sneaky could pick pock
I let my feelings collect dust there
Just so I won’t let ‘em show out here
The code to the vault is truth, however
I’m scared to unlock it
I wish my feelings, pain, and thoughts that’s in it
Could take off in a rocket
But it can’t so my secret storage will have to do
That’s how I deal with things, how bout you?
So when I have bad things happen or bad thoughts
It goes in the vault
My Time Locked Up
My time locked up was a lesson learned
It really gave me a wake-up call to open my eyes
And look at the world different
I know sometimes when you’re locked up
It seems like no one cares and no one’s there
But you have to be strong
My time locked up
I’ve grabbed hold of all the knowledge I can get
To stay mentally stable
Because of these conditions we’re in
It can really damage the brain if you let it
I have always been told
Once you get caught up in the system
You will get lost in the system
Now, still this day I’m striving to make it out of this
system
So to all of my brothers that’s going through this
system with me
I just want to give a word of encouragement
To keep your head up
And always remember
It’s a way out
You just have to help yourself find that way