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.
Breeze of Time
By AC
Sometimes I feel
As if my shadow has walked too far ahead,
As if I’ve been left behind to contemplate
The things I do remember
And the things I did forget.
And I notice the things that are not there;
Perhaps more than I did when they still were.
I guess it’s just part of human nature
To appreciate what we once had
Only after the present turns to past,
The past is laid to rest, and an empty hand is all that’s left.
But some things will simply never die,
They go on and on to live forever, like emotions;
Like I love you now as I loved you on that day;
Like your memory, an echo that keeps bouncing
Off of walls that every passing second shake and tremble
At the slightest breeze of time carrying your name.
You are still a reflection on a mirror
Refusing to disappear long after any reason and logic
Would deem it to be prudent to dissipate into thin air,
To become one with what’s not remembered nor forgotten,
To live only in my mind, within the confinements of my head.
Flow
By DT
Forever I can write or shine light or
let my mind develop a plight
On how to ascend or pedal up the next flight or height
with my eyes locked tight on the goals of the flow,
I write from what I imbibe.
The Institutional Man
By TT
Waking up to this new day with no sign of a sun
Only the familiar vibe of structure, aggregate, and painted metallics
Relishing the cozy confines of limited space
And every possession within reach
This is life
This is home
Who dares to be removed from it?
Closed quartered kindred spirits and a family of Free Minds
All at once insulated and liberated from the burden of society
This is leisure
Though there is no peace
All must be counted for the whole to remain secured
So if one must leave
They and the rest will mourn
For the death of simpler things gives spirit to all manner of complexity
Of course, the question becomes
Who would bear the standard in the wake of such a removal?
And what changes many care?
Then, when will the foundation begin to crumble?
Or where would anyone look back to then?
But as well, for now at least…
How is sleep to arrive with all that in mind?
To My Peeps
By JK
I want to let you know
how you made me feel tonight
Tryna convey my emotions to words
will not suffice
A simple ‘thank you’ seems mediocre
Because you deserve so much more
Your encouraging words and motivation
made my heart fall to the floor
I love you all more than I can say
your heartfelt shout outs have made my day
I’ll do my best to continue to encourage
your wonderful support makes my words want to flourish
And to my FREE MINDS CREW…
None of this would be happening if it wasn’t for you!
I appreciate the opportunity to free my mind
It’s giving me peace from all the wars inside
I look forward to the day that we’ll all be together
Writing with purpose to make this world better!
Be blessed. You are greatly appreciated
Weather’s A Person
By JP
Seasons are like people and not because they change.
They all have different traits some have snow, and some have rain.
Got to wear 3 jackets only winter for the blame.
Spring comes round to bring you summer which brings sunlight
through your window pane.
They like seasons and dislike them, they do the same with people
When your there they see no purpose; when you leave, they see they need you
Weether channels try to figure them out; people do the same to people
4 seasons 4 times through the year weather even has a sequel
Free Mind
By AC
A free mind–first and foremost:
Is it even possible?
To have a mind free enough to soar above
Any and all obstacles,
A mind as pure and strong as the hand
With which it was created,
A gift that bears gifts?
I’d be unstoppable
If my mind were as clear as the skies,
I’ve always wished to ascend,
To fly
You mean to tell me there’s something beyond the clouds?
All I have to do is get rid of my fears
And leave my past behind?
Lord knows I’ve been walking blind
Still can those eyes truly see
A mind so free?
Therein resides visions of grandeur
That surpass your sweetest dreams
Even if confined, a free mind can push through walls,
Transcend
Any bitter end
You say in my mind are ideas that even pioneers would envy?
Shake life’s restraints
Escape to a place many a good book send me
See life–
while blind to the surroundings designed only to kill desire–
with a clarity more precious than diamonds
Careful, free time surely expires
But there is nothing in this world that can stop
A free mind!
Black Girl
By RL
After Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans
Exquisite beyond wonder, woman
layers peeled back like sheets on a 100 degree night
heavy with discomfort and wet
from tears and my hearts breaking
How can this be?
my chest aches from
the heaviness of a paperback
my heart shattered and mended
so many times its walls are scars
of a pain so rich in grief
I could buy and sell the whole world!
Oh, but my soul…
Angry, no Furious, no-
What have we done?
What are we doing?
Our gorgeous black sisters,
our futures, our mothers,
our lovers, our friends, our
homes…
Know your story America!
learn that your liberty was
granted on the backs of whip
scarred Queens, in the
wombs of child mother,
in the DNA of
children
sold
on
BLOCKS
Are you not disgusted
at this system of
Hate, Marginalized,
Criminalized,
Ostracized,
Demonized,
but Unrealized?
Ah Her strength!
Her quiet yet
Screaming,
proud, righteous,
intelligent, deep,
loving, strong,
refusing to be chained any more
VOICE!
Scream White America
at the indignity you’ve
clothed your child in,
your bloody hemmed Liberty
with her torch so dazzling
in the eyes so blind they still
can’t see
Our Black Woman’s
Stars
And you Man- who G-d built
to cover, protect, live for, die for
this flesh of himself- Woman.
You’d turn your libido into
a tool of oppression, you’d
crush out the sacred soul,
the hope of a human you would call property,
because her skin glows like ebony fire-
SHAME man
I want to scream at every insult,
injury, injustice,
until my voice becomes
a sand blown desert
Oh and I will!
still…
My small thank you
in my small words
is just for you
BLACK GIRL
“Thank you, Jasmine”
A New Start
By AC
Let the desolation and frustration fill up my lungs
Like tears fill up your eyes, and also mine;
Like river waters, which turned into oceans, fill up the clouds;
Let them all fill up with content,
Until they satisfy the need in our hearts
‘Til they burst into inaudible screams, silent cries,
Streams that will somehow wash away all our sins
And provide us with just what we need to bring peace
Back to our lives.
Let frustration build up, transform, die off,
Then bring about new beginnings,
Bring about a new start.
Forgiveness
By AF
Learning to forgive can be difficult in the beginning when you are not used to forgiving.
But when you learn to forgive a person for mistreatment, hurt or pain, or maybe it
Could be forgiven that person for their past decision or decisions that you may despise.
Whichever it maybe you will feel a lot better about yourself, improve your character and learn
To appreciate life’s tribulations and strife, because each 1 we learn from and become wiser and stronger.
A few years back I learned to forgive my father, which I did over the phone.
It had come to me one night that people only do what they know how to do.
My father wasn’t able to be a good father figure, because he was not taught how to be one.
Nor did he experience the things a good father teaches their child, so he wasn’t able to display fatherly qualities.
I felt real good to get it off of my chest, that it allowed my father and I to develop a solid friendship.
Growing up I would’ve never believed one day I would forgive him.
But there is 1 person I wish I would have forgiven before she passed away
Last year, it was the lady who raised me, my grandma.
I drove her crazy with my criminal lifestyle,
Truly I regret it.
We Must
By MH
We protest in the loudest voice the injustice of the “justice system”
We protest our dehumanization
We protest our victimization
We protest our torture
We protest the harsh treatment by the “justice system”
We protest the harshness of the “justice system”
We protest the failure of the “justice system”
We protest turning humans into numbers and statistics
We protest a system negatively altered human life forever
We protest a system that destroyed human mind, heart, and soul
We protest….
We protest….
Our protest heeded no positive responses
We heard instead the calls for harsher treatment
We heard them say
In the name of justice we imprisoned you
In the name of justice we caged you
In the name of justice we took you away from your loved ones
In the name of justice we gave you the harshest sentences
In the name of justice we made our streets safer
(violence, drugs, and crimes rife still in the street)
In the name of justice we took your rights away
In the name of justice we sent you to be rehabilitated
(there is no rehabilitation to speak of, you mean we sent you to the most
prestigious universities of criminality, it is called and funded by
the “justice system” [prisons] there you will achieve the greatest
degree in the pursuance of crimes)
In the name of justice….
In the name of justice….
We wondered how they weren’t able to hear our cries for justice
We wondered when will they hear us, when will they hear our voices,
our stories, somethings must be missing?
We must reexamine and find the causes
We must take a look at us, at ourselves
We accepted and contributed to our tragedy
We seem to lose our sense, intellect, understanding, comprehension,
empathy, love, thoughtfulness, mindfulness, etc…
the cause effect of the “justice system”
We live instead in a state of delusion, illusion
We accepted to live in such a tragedy, because we let it affect us
We lost our purpose
We lost ourselves
We lost our inner peace
We lost our hope
We live in a state where anger, blame, and frustration took control
and paralyzed us
We deny our reality and live with the flow
We refuse to use the paddles in our position to paddle our boat
and reach the shore, reach our destination, instead we let the
currents take us wherever it wishes to
We will not change what’s happening to us, until we change what’s within us
We deny reality
We are not aware that the theaters long since it closed its curtains,
the audience long since they left, and the awards long since they
have been awarded, there is no need for anymore acts.
We search for the precious minerals, but we only find toxic and useless materials
We will not be able to remove the cuffs and shackles (not the physical ones)
that are restraining us, until we find the treasure, the priceless treasure
We all, each one of us have a precious gem and jewels, in our minds, hearts, souls, and bodies.
We must hasten in seeking our treasures, find it, refine it, produce and share it
We must stop chasing after the mirage
We must remove and break these shackles
We must not accept to live in such a tragedy, we co-founded ourselves
We must wake up.
I Don’t Need It
By LL
Content warning: self-harm
I don’t need it
I can make it through the day
Well, maybe… I think
And if not, I’ll just have a drink
I like wine, I’ll be fine
Pass the time, pass the blunt
Left hand to right
Cause I don’t need it
I don’t need it
Okay, maybe I do
Life is hard, a little too much
It knocks me down and I get in a rut
Unable to pull myself up cause I’m too weak
So weak in the knees and then I freeze
Once I freeze, it takes over me
I’m paralyzed, stuck and then…
No, I don’t need it
But I want it
That’s pathetic but least I’m honest
It won’t take long, I’ll be quick
It’s like a prick, okay that’s a lie
But I don’t feel the pain so it’s fine
Just one minute, might be some blood
But I won’t be flooded w/ thoughts anymore
The thoughts are bad, overpowering, mean
I scream but who hears
Tears fall cause… I don’t need it
But I want it
I want the relief, the release
To be free from the pain inside
One cut, two cut, three
Anything to come up and breathe
And then I’ll be okay, til I’m not
But til then I’ll tell myself
I don’t need it
Suburbia
By AB
Suburbia:
We drove to your parents’ home, out in suburbia talking about all the things you wish you could change.
Like that man you see for help with your head and the way you see yourself, or the way your parents run their house.
But that’s life in suburbia; where house wives drink all day, as the husbands work for the man for just enough pay.
You told me all about all the dysfunction in the neighborhood, like Ms. Robinson’s gay son.
And the kid who used to play with guns until one day he got mad and then he got sad and then nothing at all.
But that’s life in suburbia; where the kids aren’t all right, and the parents all fight.
So we hid in your room and rocked out to all your favorite bands as we got high and dreamt of distant lands.
We talk about white flight and we stay up all night, then we do something brand new, well at least new to you…
But that’s life in suburbia; where love like ours is just so taboo and everyone pretends to know the real you.
After we’re done I give you a hug and you tell me this wasn’t just a fling and that you’d like to make us a thing.
You told me about all your secrets and I told you mine, while Kurt sang along in a high pitched whine.
But that’s life in suburbia; where the kids’ romances are built overnight as the parents struggle and sleep apart at night.
But it didn’t matter to us, as we sat together in your new car, wishing and wanting for this to go far.
But it wasn’t meant to be, or at least that’s what you told me, as you drove me home, out of your suburbia.
But that’s life in suburbia; where it’s fun to play until the end of the day…