by Salvador, Santa Clara When I was on the outside my days used to be the opposite of interesting. Most of the time I used to repeat the same routine over and over again. There were some parts that I liked about it and certain parts that I didn’t. But first, I’m going to tell you the things that I used to do when I was on the outside. First wake up, go straight to the bathroom, get ready for school, do school online, go to the 7-Eleven for a coffee and if I had more money then get something
Continue ReadingYear: 2021
Hurting, Healing, Helping
by Raul Higgins, San Quentin State Prison, CA In the midst of the infirmities and traumatic memories of this deadly Coronavirus pandemic, it continues to linger on in the cells of San Quentin. However, with watchful eyes and cautious paranoia, it’s not an option to let my guard down, either. With the power of prayer and the courageous pillars of our communities it inhales a natural breath of resilience. Then it exhales the most power-fullest currency in prison-HOPE! A hope that’s resuscitated my second wind. Drifting through a wind-tunnel of looming dark shadows and haunting fears that have rattled my
Continue ReadingMy Prison Park Bench
by Keith Erickson, Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, CA As a child, I never imagined that my favorite place in the world, my world, would be a park bench in a California State Prison. I find the most serene moments being suspended in time, right there adjacent to the inmate soccer field. It’s a place that I have walked by thousands of times over without as much as a second glance. A place where taking a moment to just sit and relax my legs, would require me pausing for a period of time, disrupting my doing absolutely nothing at
Continue ReadingLife Story, Part 4
by William Curl, SATF in Corcoran, CA …I’m on my twenty sixth year of incarceration. I’m no longer the immature kid who had no idea how to properly process the emotional trauma from my childhood. I’m sure none of you woke up one morning and said, “Today I’m goin’ to join a gang or become a criminal.” That’s not how it works. It’s a process that starts with the way we were raised, be it household, environment, some traumatic experience in our childhood caused us to embrace an antisocial way of thinking. It’s all about perspective. The way we perceive
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Volume 26.15/16
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingEd Note 26.15/16
We are thrilled to give you readers this beautiful publication every two weeks, as we slowly but surely approach our 25th year of service (come mid-September) of writing and art from inside juvenile hall and beyond! Who would have thought that this tiny non-profit based in San Francisco would touch so many lives over the last 25 years? Think about all the publications, all the workshops, all the letters/submissions sent to us, with the desire to be published, to touch a life, to share a story, to educate and inspire!? What an honor to be doing this work with you
Continue ReadingEmotional Pain Is Worse Than Physical
by R, Sacramento Pain is a word I have heard a lot. It’s also something I have dealt with a lot. Since I was a child, I’ve experienced pain. Both physical and mental or emotional pain I know very well. As physical gain goes, I have broken my hand and shin. I have also been burned, cut, and jumped. To me, physical pain is easier to deal with than mental pain. If it’s physical, you are hurt for a while, a couple days, couple weeks, or a couple of months. But your body is going to heal eventually because that’s
Continue ReadingElementary Memories
by Anthony, San Mateo This is going to be about my five to six years in elementary school. First grade was in San Bruno Allen Elementary, the school behind the San Bruno library on El Camino Real. It was the good life in first grade, having to not worry about anything in life but passing my easy lil’ kid packet and class with one teacher. I had hella friends and it was a good life. I don’t even know how to say it. It was definitely a trouble and stress-free life, just living, when thinking is not what you do.
Continue ReadingThe Pain
by Lil O, James Ranch, Santa Clara During my life I’ve been through some things, seen a lot, done a lot, been through a lot. I remember those days when I was a little kid being a little travieso and shhh. Growing up was hard, my mom didn’t want me to be like my family, she wants me to be a good kid doing good. I was a kid that struggled a lot, got angry all the time. My mom didn’t like that. She used to hit me. She’ll call my uncles and they’ll do the same thing they wanted
Continue ReadingI’ve Seen A Lot Growing Up
by JA, Sacramento I have seen a lot. Some I can’t talk about, growing up in the area I grew up in. You gotta stick and weave. If you know then you know. Some make it out, some don’t. Some get killed trying to make it out, some like bein’ even sixteen. I have done seen so much when I was five. I’m not like the others and for sure not like others my age nor is my mind or person. A lot of people think I’m older than my age. I had to grow up fast. Do I like
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