Poems of A Prisoner
By CH
Stuck in the mindset of a convict,
Trying to find a way out.
Prison populations freed daily,
But some never find a way to stay out…
Driving reckless in a hurry to a dead end on a road filled with road kill,
Wreck yards bury lost lives hearsed in every sun rise,
While the cell blocks hold dreams and plenty of wishes…
So many nights spent praying for a second chance,
Without a real religion just really takin’ a chance
Hoping God will listen.
Lock-down confined to a cell in hell without room service
And no one to call when I need to talk
So when I am separated in isolation;
Secretly confides in the four walls
When my untold stories reside…
When I take a look in the mirror
I see a disgraced face full of disappointment thinking back;
Realize it was my decisions that ruined the lives of my love ones,
Leaving broken hearts open and filled with heavy pain,
That runs out over flowin’ through the eyes like a waterfall…
As I wipe away the tears my vision starts to reappear
And I begin to focus on the picture I painted full of mistakes
Making the lessons I’ve learned clear…
Nowadays my circles are full of squares that resemble Steve.
Loyal to the fact that family matters
Cause when the money and the fame no longer sustain
And the fancy cars in the fast lane pull off with your friends
It’s guaranteed that your blood remains…
I understand now that game wasn’t designed to win
It was made with the plot to control my mind
And to keep my thoughts locked in…
Now I’m trapped in a different world living on a dead end
Waiting to see the beginning of a new life
Where I promise not to do the same thing twice…
5 Comments
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The poets featured here 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. Post your comments, feedback, and encouragement in the space below the poem. 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.
Hello CH, Thanks for posting a long poem. As an English teacher on the West Coast, I like to get into a longer piece. You have some great lines- your second stanza is great, though I might re-arrange the line breaks (and yes remove the end rhymes) like this–
Driving in a hurry to a dead end
on a road filled with road kill,
Wrecking yards bury lost lives
hearsed in every sun rise,
While the cell blocks hold dreams…
I’m sorry for your hard lessons, but this kind of self-expression might help you a lot to show others a better path, and to help you mend your own soul.
Congratulations on the great writing.
ES
Hi CH,
I just read your poem and I wanted to say that it is very powerful, inspiring and it describes what life is like in prison. I can feel your pain through the words in your writing. What really stood out to me was the quote, “So many nights spent praying for a second chance,
Without a real religion just really takin’ a chance
Hoping God will listen.” It made me think about you and other inmates who are desperate to start over, to wish that they never committed the crime they decided to engage in. They are willing to pray to God whilst having no religious preference just hoping to make it out and carry out the life they wanted to fulfill in the first place. Your poem reaches out to many people, they can also sense your pain. Being “trapped in a different world living on a dead end” must be very scary and upsetting. The readers can hear your cries through your writing and feel your despair. Everybody wants to live a positive and better life, and this piece of poetry may and will touch the heart strings of kids and teens who are likely to commit crimes, and they may think twice about the actions they think of doing. This is a wonderful piece!
Hey CH,
I think that this poem is super meaningful and shows your emotions towards this jail cell. Life must have been hard but you must look forward. One stanza that really hit me was :
“Stuck in the mindset of a convict,
Trying to find a way out.
Prison populations freed daily,
But some never find a way to stay out…”
I can just imagine the pain of some inmates not being able to go home. Congrats on this awesome poem.
This one has a whole lot of heart. Keep writing CH and keep the promise you made.
CH,
Wow, you have crafted this piece with care, and it shows. The imagery you use is particularly strong.
Two lines really got me. “But some never find a way to stay out” was a shock because it followed your line about freedom, and going back is not something we usually think about at the first taste of freedom even though it is so difficult to avoid. “Without a real religion just really takin’ a chance” is beautifully honest and uses fresh language to speak to something many many people grapple with.
Thank you for sharing your poem. Please keep writing. I’d love to read more.
Your fan,
Rachael