April 29th, 2014

Poetry From Prison – A Unique Perspective

by Karen Moy and June Brigman

Tommy wants to avoid returning to prison.

April is National Poetry Month.  To reflect on Tommy, an ex-con who’s featured in the current story., here’s a poem from the book, “How to Survive A Bullet to the Heart” –  a collection of poetry by maximum security prison inmates, compiled by John Wareham.

“More to It” by Rudy Bisnauth

There’s more to it than cuffs and crackles.
More to it than pain and shackles.
More to it than days and nights.
More to it than oozing life.
More to it than parsing crime.
More to it than counting time.

I woke and saw that pain’s a blessing.
Judgement Day is life’s undressing.
Caress what is to be your rest;
love, in time, will be your test.

To me there is a whole lot more.
A door to open many tours.
More to it, I count my breath,
how many whispers might be left?

A link to the book can be found here.