by DaBaby, Marin Someone I look like is my dad and everything and I got my mom’s eyes and smile and I feel sorry to them because they told me every day to be good and change my life, but I never heard them. I was too busy on the street smoking meth with the homies rolling blunts and shhh like that. I feel bad because they were always there for me, and I appreciate that they are still there when I need them. I never thought I was that person. It feels as if I was in a dream,
Continue ReadingMonth: June 2023
Love Versus Hate
by D, Sacramento “We hate so fast and we love too slow.” – Pink Honestly, I do agree with this week’s quote. It made me think differently because I thought it was normal to hate people. Hatred comes very naturally and easy to most people. Small, simple things can tick you off to hate someone and that hate can last as long as you live. Shoot, nowadays it’s common to hate people that you never even met. When you think about gangs, most the people who despise each other never even saw each other in person, only over social media.
Continue ReadingConquering Our Doubts
by Patrick Demery, San Quentin State Prison, CA Doubts have always been that obstacle with which I have struggled against the most. Sometimes I think they have stopped me from even attempting to succeed. What’s that saying? “You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”? My doubts are those things that have kept me anchored and tied to the pier of life. Don’t get me wrong. My life has been a strange and adventurous journey, but I can only imagine what it could have been had I only conquered my doubts
Continue ReadingOh Love… How Much Love is Enough?
by Donald Thompson, San Quentin State Prison, CA Love means different things to different people, but in the end, I believe that love is love. I have people in my life who love me, and whom I love. Their love for me makes all of the difference in the world. I feel loved even if it’s just their words to me “I love you” because so much of my life I didn’t feel loved even when there were those who would tell me they loved me, their words were void of meaning because there was no action behind the words.
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Volume 28.13/14
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingWrongly
by ChainsGee, Sonoma Well, I would like to start by taking responsibility for treating my wife wrongly during our whole relationship. I have been with her for three plus years and have two beautiful healthy babies. With her I feel like as a man it’s best for me to recognize how wrongly I have treated her. I hope that I won’t do it ever again. I am still with her, and I still love her unconditionally. But the things I have done were things such as being disrespectful, emotionally abusive, and mean. I am honestly thankful that my girl is
Continue ReadingThe Memories Are My Music
by Jose, Santa Clara The sound of owls late at night while we were outside in the village, is music to my ears. It’s soothing to me. It’s very relaxing, the late- night crickets with the owls and cars passing by in the distance on the freeway. I miss those days posting with the team. Most of us are locked up now and most of us are not coming home for a while. Out of my generation, about half of us are locked up. I think about those nights all the time. One more sound that is music to my
Continue ReadingBad Beliefs = Bad Behaviors
by Dortell Williams, Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Blythe, CA Beliefs equal attitudes, and attitudes equal behaviors. I learned this concept about fifteen years ago in a prison self-help class taught by peers — for us, by us. What does that mean on the ground? It means that when my father repeatedly called me stupid, I believed him. In hindsight, I was only doing what young, curious boys do when exploring their world, and making mistakes. The name calling gave me a low self-esteem. Low self-confidence is a common contributing factor to imprisonment. I didn’t believe in myself, so I
Continue ReadingProving Myself
by Wendy Fong, Central California Women’s Facility Being the product of an interracial marriage and broken home, my whole life has been a journey in which I’ve had to prove myself. My Asian culture required me to fulfill unrealistic expectations from a young age. These expectations were intended to push me so that I would be successful in life. There was no malice behind the demands. When I left my dad’s home and moved in with my mom, my whole world changed. Suddenly, I found I had to prove myself for other reasons. Since my mom was deep in her
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