• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Prose of a Con

Poetry and Prose by Russell Wardlow

  • Home
  • About
  • Prose
    • Culture
    • Inside
    • Love
    • Mercy
    • Spirit
    • Trauma
  • Listen
  • News
  • Connect
  • Support

Grew up, I’m-prisoned

October 29, 2020 by Russell Wardlow Leave a Comment

I grew up

mother incarcerated

father deceased

I grew up

as a foster child

and ‘my mother’s’ child

I grew up

confused, shamed, and angry

lost, unfit, and skeptical

I grew up

witnessing adult truths

experiencing adult lives

I grew up

hearing adult lies

feeling adult pain

I grew up

in a merry go round

home shelter institution home facility…

I grew up

absorbing everything

blending, but never fitting

I grew up

standing by, no one stayed standing by my side

none understood me

I grew up

with internal battles

viewed by my reactions

I grew up

seen as trouble

judged like a man

I grew up

aggressive, out of fear and protection of myself

that narrative carried thru my years, stunting my growth

still, I grew up

now look where I am

exactly where I started off

but at least I grew up…

Filed Under: Culture, Inside, Love, Trauma

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

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.

Read More

  • Whose Mind is it Anyway June 30, 2022
  • Objects June 30, 2022
  • Same Thang, Different Name June 30, 2022
  • Optical Ill-lusions June 30, 2022
  • Hollow Symbols June 30, 2022

Themes

  • Culture
  • Inside
  • Love
  • Mercy
  • Spirit
  • Trauma
  • Uncategorized

Footer

Prose of a Con

Prose of a Con is sponsored by giveabeat.org

  • Instagram

Navigation

  • Home
  • About
  • Prose
  • Listen
  • News
  • Connect
  • Support

Themes

  • Culture
  • Inside
  • Love
  • Mercy
  • Spirit
  • Trauma
  • Uncategorized

Prose of a Con © 2025 · web design by Studio Lyko