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Testimony
I will never see the light of day again
I’m trapped in my body just wanting to run
You reek of freedom and it makes my skin crawl
I’ll be here for a long time
I’ll remember you
There’s a V in the road:
The dead end
The right path
The track you’re on: you’ll be right here with me
Your freedom taken from you
Like it doesn’t mean nothing,
Like you don’t mean nothing,
Like the air that you breathe, doesn’t mean nothing
I miss life
I realized what I could handle:
Nothing
My biggest regret:
Time
You live everyday but your life’s on pause
You don’t have your dad?
You’re mad at the world?
F*** that!
To be a man,
You don’t have to have a man in your household
My father, I met him 5 times
And you, a father?
While your child is crying
You probably be here crying too
Laugh.
See if you laugh when you come through these doors
When the laughing is over, people like you cry
They cry
That’s how it is
You only got one mamma
When she gone, nobody left for you
My mother, I buried in chains
Didn’t say goodbye
I guess I was weak when I should’ve been strong
Love your little brother?
I got two brothers, they ain’t going to be here again
No magic tricks
This is real life
People who can’t follow rules make rules
I’m fighting for my life in here
Glasses? I don’t need these
I want you to see the pain in my eyes
You don’t have to believe me
I’m living testimony
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This piece was inspired by the television show, "Scared Straight." It made me realize that even incarcerated felons can offer meaningful advice to at-risk teens, despite all the social stigma they receive.
*This piece is done in the style of Found Poetry, meaning that I have taken the words of inmates from this telvision show in order to create this poem.