Tag Archives: jail arts

Student Work Wednesday

Lesson Learned by Stephen

I didn’t know the influence my thoughts had

I used to think
I would live my life the way I wanted
I used to think
I was the one that had to pass when it was time for me to pass

She passed somewhere between the yellow and the green
She passed because of these thoughts

Now, i know
Lesson learned

Collaborative Poem

In class at the jail we worked together to define what it means to be scared. Our poem is below:

Scared Is…

Scared is someone else controlling my fate without knowing who I am
Scared is a key that doesn’t work
Scared is not knowing what tomorrow brings
Scared is falling in a hole you can’t get out of
Scared is an unknown army of haunting fears
Scared is being left alone like a lost child
Scared is looking forward to avoid looking back.

Student Work Wednesday

Found Poem: Inmate Handbook By B.

The officer is always right
Inmates will not fight
Privileges are not rights
Nothing is allowed on the light

Order in the facility
It is your responsibility
Pictures will not depict nudity
Inmates will not exert authority
Ask permission to shower in the dormitory.

—
“Found poems take existing texts and refashion them, reorder them, and present them as poems. The literary equivalent of a collage, found poetry is often made from newspaper articles, street signs, graffiti, speeches, letters, or even other poems.

A pure found poem consists exclusively of outside texts: the words of the poem remain as they were found, with few additions or omissions. Decisions of form, such as where to break a line, are left to the poet.” –from poets.org

Student Work Wednesday

I Am by Jacob D.

I am a loyal and humble person
I wonder if I’ll ever win at this game called life
I hear the harsh, loud, clink sound that chills  my nerves multiple times a day
I see all kinds of races and nations come together in harmony following the way
I want to break this cycle of insanity sooner than later
I am a loyal and humble person

I pretend these walls of containment don’t bother me
I feel more sincere about becoming the solution rather than the problem for the first time in my life
I worry that if I don’t change now I never will and my evil deeds will outweigh the good
I cry when I think of the people I’ve lost and the older I get the more I can’t stand this shit
I am a loyal and humble person

I understand God is good and he is not one to wheel and deal
I say if everyone believed as me no matter what circumstance they face they’d be free
I dream about walking out the front door as if I had a key
I try to strengthen my faith everyday and be an example
I hope life gets better because I try and for the first time I can say I deserve it
I am a loyal and humble person.