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Prose of a Con

Poetry and Prose by Russell Wardlow

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Live Yours

January 20, 2020 by Russell Wardlow Leave a Comment

We all crave to be on top instead of below or on the side which we deem as a consequence

but every topping is still a side, like condiments

we can’t keep measuring our lives to someone else’s accomplishments

the standard is you, besides whose to say in your life those things would be considered accomplishments

take pride in your individuality, don’t flock to a common sense

because if you never agree with the consensus and yet you still put up, those are hard blows to your confidence

we all have our own paths and our own struggles

so why would you base your life on the model of someone else while still, being plagued by your own troubles

see, there’s one Russell…even though there’s more than one Russell

when leaves die, they rustle

when feathers don’t flock together, they ruffle

when life puts you in a corner, you rumble

when I say Young Russ, that’s us!-Young in Spirit, Resilient Under Stressful Situations-that’s not just Russell

But I seek to Rise Under Soulful Soil Eternally Living Liberated

That’s Russell, not anyone else that I view at a distance

see, there’s more than one Russell, the next one may stand for something completely different so if we have the same name, then what makes the difference?

experience…is the only real description

what I’m saying is, no one else’s experiences can make you, and your name doesn’t make you but you make your name and create the destination to where each experience may take you we all may have a different God that we pray to

but prayer in all religions still wield the same prelude

looking for an answer, looking for some help

looking in the mirror not reflecting but looking for yourself

looking for forgiveness or looking for some stealth

looking for attention, and looking for some wealth

looking for some love, but you can’t love yourself

so you pray for others more because you place Your value in everyone else

but you think what you being is unique, you real huh

that’s why you celebrate the reason why you or your homies can get killed huh

you got the formula, you grown beyond that enfamil huh

you scared to be yourself, your hood ain’t just a family, its ya shield huh

you probably still get offended when you hear something real huh

if it don’t match with how you view your lies and how you feel huh you

acting like you don’t feel huh you still sticking to the same code that made him squeal and him take a deal huh

acting as if you was just clapping to get a meal and pay ya bills huh

get a grill, you think you concealed so you conceal huh

but those straps became embodiments of how you really feel huh

lost and lonely, scared and only living for the appeal so you pop a pill squeeze the peel then peel huh

you admire athletes so you run the streets like its the field

huh even Kaepernick had to lift the curtain on what was real, so he kneeled, you’d die before you’d take a knee, and that’s why these cops is upping they kills huh

you say you don’t shit where you eat, but what you call home is the kill zone, but you harder than steel huh?

you stand as a man a part, but you been following ever since you joined

say you following your heart, but you’re led by a corrupted mind and your groin

I know you loyal, crazy and insane

so you might get right back out and do the same damn thing

then wonder why, you thought you got smarter but nothing has changed

in the end, you can’t put it on anyone else, following suit instead of experiencing your own lane damn, aint that a shame

all that idolizing and only yourself to blame

Filed Under: Culture, Inside, Mercy, Trauma

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Prose of a Con

Prose of a Con is a collection of Russell Wardlow’s prose and poetry written entirely behind bars. Through writings on family, spirituality, freedom, love, justice, redemption, and vulnerability, Russell seeks to show the humanity and hope of individuals like himself who are incarcerated.

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