Prison Project

Books called it The Great Migration, but people aren’t birds Yet we fly in flocks and also remain lonesome doves So do crows and many of them equal a murder Birds of a feather, flock together And the worst of vultures kill us all little by little with each passing day With oppression and by smoke bombs, metal batons and O.C. Pepper spray The penitentiary is a place with fair weather friends

Today I will multiply my value A Hundredfold I will commit not the terrible crime of aiming to low. I will do the work that a failure will not do. I will always let my reach exceed my grasp. I will never be content with my performance in the market. I will always raise my goals as soon as they are attained. I will always strive to make the next hour better than this one I will always announce my goals to the world.

If I become overconfident, I will recall my failures. If I overindulge, I will think of past hungers. If I feel complacency, I will remember my competition. If I enjoy moments of greatness, I will remember moments of shame. If I feel all powerful, I will try to stop the wind. If I attain great wealth, I will remember one unfed mouth. If I become overly proud, I will remember a moment of weakness.

Getting darker And later unto the night. No one Would venture on The highway In the evening, By the great Blue mountains daylight comes very fast. restlessness And moving, During the day. It was then She picked up the Nearest telephone Spoke on The reciever patterns of her Voice recorded.

I read of man who stood to speak At the funeral of a friend. He referred to dates on her tombstone From the beginning to the end. He noted that first came the date of her birth And spoke of the following date with tears, But he said what mattered most of all Was the dash between those years. For that dash represents all the time That she spent alive on earth

My view is marred By iron bars But I cannot look away The sun is setting Time forgetting The loss of another day So here I sit In this haunted pit With freedom on my mind Lost in thought About happiness sought Something so hard to find I shake my head Lay down to bed In hopes of getting sleep Time to forget This haunted pit If not I’ll surely weep