“A person's like or dislike of poetry is subjective. Some poets are adept at painting clear pictures with words, while others describe their muse with an indecipherable vagueness. Despite the myriad meanings and methods of poetry, I use this art form to display human vulnerability. Society often disavows vulnerability in incarcerated people. As the perceived scum of the earth, the hardships of prison are considered our just desserts for a criminal offense. We are not human. We are animals who do not feel things the way normal people feel things. We are expected to act tougher than the average person, if only because prison should be a tough place, and we deserve to be here.
“Such a damaging mindset has led to a violent prison environment, a high recidivism rate, and the decline of a society that accepts cruelty in the putative pursuit of justice. The problem is magnified when the incarcerated adopt the same mindset, linking justice and cruelty, and behave as if they truly are invulnerable and can do whatever they want to one another.
“But we in prison, like all human beings, are vulnerable. This is why vulnerability is a core theme, perhaps the core theme, of my poetry. Vulnerability humanizes the incarcerated, sure, but vulnerability also spotlights the commonality we share with all human beings, in and out of prison. Negative social attitudes toward the incarcerated will never change as long as we are viewed as different.
“Hopefully, my poetic display of vulnerability can show how we in prison are also appalled by violence, destroyed by injustice, and hurt by the opinions of others, just like those in the free world who have never served prison time.”
