“Writing is a form of personal freedom. It frees us from the mass identity we see in the making all around us. In the end, writers will write not to be outlaw heroes of some underculture but mainly to save themselves, to survive as individuals.”
Tag Archives: jail arts
2Pac – “Sometimes I Cry”
In class at the Lake County Jail we have read a diverse selection of works that have generated insightful conversation and proved helpful in modeling various writing forms. Most recently, a student mentioned that Tupac Shakur–primarily known to me as a (great) rapper–had written a good deal of poetry. Keeping with our efforts to expose the students to a wide range of voices, I got my hands on his posthumously-released poetry collection The Rose that Grew from Concrete and brought some of the poems to class.
Last week we read and discussed “Sometimes I Cry” (printed below). It elicited some powerful discussion on imposed gender roles and the expectations they carry, how we can help one another, and how to gather strength when one feels broken.
The moment was also important as it reinforced the fact that in that small, concrete-lined, poorly-lit room we all have the ability to learn from one another.
Sometimes I Cry
Sometimes when I’m alone
I cry because I’m on my own
The tears I cry R bitter and warm
They flow with life but take no form
I cry because my heart is torn
and I find it difficult to carry on If I had an ear 2 confide in
I would cry among my treasured friend
But who do you know that stops that long
to help another carry on The world moves fast and it would rather pass u by
than 2 stop and c what makes u cry
It’s painful and sad and sometimes I cry
and no one cares about why.
I cry because I’m on my own
The tears I cry R bitter and warm
They flow with life but take no form
I cry because my heart is torn
and I find it difficult to carry on If I had an ear 2 confide in
I would cry among my treasured friend
But who do you know that stops that long
to help another carry on The world moves fast and it would rather pass u by
than 2 stop and c what makes u cry
It’s painful and sad and sometimes I cry
and no one cares about why.
–2Pac
Student Work Wednesday
Pay Attention to Detail by Terry S.
Like a siren your presence screams at my attention
blinding me from comprehension…
I no longer see the vast qualities of the world…
but total release from life’s limitations…
flashing hot and cold with no control there’s no ration behind the fantasy you hold
Pay attention to detail…
Voice the sound of a soft seashell
I understand and can tell… the bold, italic, and underlined ways she casts her spell
Mesmerized I don’t think she realize I memorize every sensuous effect cuz I…
Pay attention to detail…
A cool breeze the way your hair flows round your bright face…
I swear it only exists for the light of my days
yet with a wind of expression my dreams are no longer a daze…
back and forth, back and forth I pace…
thinking ‘bout you in all your amazing ways curly hair, ponytail, hair down laid down God how I love her smile
Pay attention to detail…
Age: 22 Favorite color: Pink
likes dresses and jeans shoes: Vans sometimes heels when she steps on the scene
Likes helping people when they’re in need
so she’s a nurse trying to get a degree
always getting the short end of the stick so she thinks
“fuck helping people who’s helping me?!”
Pay attention to detail…
————
About Terry S.: Misguided…Now I makin’ my own way. Speaking through these lines revealin’ what lies behind the real, separated from the fake capitalizing on my mistakes.