by Joel J. Baul
May today’s presence find all of you well in spirit and health. The world outside this tomb is beating like that of a heart, yet as we know it’s falling apart! It saddens me to know that (Jim Crow and McCarthy’s) are no longer dormant? I can only hope with all that is manifesting itself, there is a unification of enlightenment to ensure we haven’t lost our way and that we acknowledge we do need each other more so in these times than we know: Life is fragile, so too is our reproach.
The four poems enclosed were written with the intent of drawing the reader in, perhaps inviting them to realize that (change) is active not passive. Prison for me seems to magnify all that I’ve neglected and ignored while living a life of lies and bitterness. May in some way I assist a lost soul from having to travel long down the path of destruction. I have many regrets and no way to make amends with maybe be the exception being doing what I can through my writing and just/godly conduct behind these walls.
I’ve come from the bottom and still I am living the mirror image from where I came. A whore’s son with no known father or family haunts me, robs me of sleep some nights but it’s part of the journey. I’ve come to rely more on the calm of my inner being to comfort me and keep me from going insane. I appreciate this outlet. It reveals to me that there are some who haven’t given up on those who haven’t given up on themselves. Yes, I just hope I can be an asset in igniting determination for a better way. There are so many kids inside here (18-25) who’ve never had a fair chance now they’re doing fifty, sixty, eighty, a hundred plus and life sentences. It hurts and for those it doesn’t hurt or disappoint, then their conscience must be numb from the ways of this world. I do pity the insensitive.
These poem are a part of me, and I would like to believe the more I write the more I am even healed.
Thank you for publishing the three I sent in Vol. 19. 43/44. May your holidays (and the new year) be safe and fulfilled with much joy, happiness and peace.
In the spirit.