About This Blog

All of the poems on this website are written by incarcerated members of Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop.  This blog is a valuable link to the external community and an important outlet for their voices to be heard.  Every week, we print out the comments you leave and mail them to the writers which is a huge motivator for the new poets.  Unfortunately, none of our members have internet access while in jail or federal prison, so we are not able to share your “likes” with them.  If you “like” a post, please also leave a comment on the poem!

Thank you for your encouraging words!

Title 16

 By KC

 The title I was given does not make me a champion
 Nor would I brag or boast about it
 Under 18 down in the jail,
 And now all of a sudden DC does not give bail
 
 Never thought I’d be here
 Writing this poem
 Or seeing my mother through a TV screen
 Talking through a phone
 I’m considered a minor
 But in an adult environment
  
 My family can’t save me now
 The food is garbage and the jumpsuits are bright
 It’s been months since I’ve even been outside
 Commissary always needs money
 And instead of the days getting easier day by day
 It gets harder day by day
  
 The title I received
 Instead of a championship belt
 It’s replaced by shackles and handcuffs 
 

Title 16 allows juveniles in Washington, DC to be tried and sentenced as adults for certain offenses.

Abstruse

By SK

Me as a person, I’m ABSTRUSE
I let the littlest things turn into self mental abuse
I try to abscond from my problems but it’s no use
Use drugs to solve them
I let my friends induce
 
Some say I’m strange
At times I feel insane
But I know I’m sane
I just don’t think the same
 
Life in the fast lane
With no seatbelt
It’s an ABSTRUSE game
You’re going to need help
Yeah, ABSTRUSE

4 My Son

 By DJ

 Bundle of joy
A beautiful baby boy
I want you to know the sky is the limit
We got Obama and I got you
I know I mess up sometimes
You will learn that’s what humans do
Just know daddy loves you

When you hurt I hurt
When you need I need
Right now you don’t understand
But I hope when you do I will be there
And all of your childhood memories are fond of me

Not like mine
I never knew my dad
And he ain’t know me
This is something I don’t want to repeat

I fought so hard to get a street name
A little bit of street fame
But you have my last name
My blood
Just know Daddy loves you

C.H.A.N.G.E

 By SR

 Change to me means Choosing Hands And Not Guns Every time

 My past involves quick tempers
 Over problems that were simple
 Running to a gun to end someone’s life
 Instead of duking it out and hearing you won in our fight
 Our human bodies have been formed
 To easily recover from bumps n bruises
 But a close life lost you don’t hear who won and who loses
 You hear who’s gone and who’s choosing
 If they sloppy, the top bunk or the bottom
 Seldom they got away
 But if so you’re a walking body
 No dome, no tone, just bones
 Who wants a lifeless life?
 I don’t
 I want change
 You’ll see a new man!

Judge Not What You See

By Officer B.
Juvenile Unit Correctional Officer, DC Jail 

In the 5 years I’ve been here on this C4B juvenile unit I have met many kinds of young men. Many who claim to be HEARTLESS and RUTHLESS and by their crimes you would believe this also but then you get to know them, talk with them, learn about them and their families or lack thereof. Many have made mistakes in which they can’t come back from. Even though they may not say it I know they wish they could change their circumstances. Most are from the streets if not all and what their peers think of them means so much to them. But what someone should have told them that taking something from people, hurting people or taking a life does not make you a man. They were told that they were men too early in life. They have a lot of maturity to go to reach Manhood and the learning does not stop because of age.  You should always try to learn and grow as a person. What I am saying is that out of all the young men that I have met they all were looking for LOVE and UNDERSTANDING from someone. No (MOM) or (DAD) in some circumstances can change a person in so many ways that we cannot imagine how it could affect a person’s life. After all we’re only human, born to make mistakes.

Sometimes they are really hard to recover from.

C.O. B.

Change in the Air

 By IS

 I can feel a change in the air
 A change that isn’t fair
 Taking something that I love so much
 My pride and my honor that can never be touched 
 Change could be a good thing
 Or change could be tough
 It can leave you wondering
 Wondering if it’s enough
 Are you changing for yourself
 Or changing for someone else?
 Never will I change to impress
 But sometimes change happens for the best
 Changing your mindset in order to progress
 

Before and After

By BS

Before
My little brother was burned in the fire
 
After
I had felt that life could get no better
I felt that no one could have a better brother
I acted as if I lost my best friend
I wished I never had to experience this
I just wish I had one wish