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Prose of a Con

Poetry and Prose by Russell Wardlow

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I Wish

November 8, 2021 by Russell Wardlow Leave a Comment

I wish
you would listen
I wish
you could listen
I wish
you would stop believing
that to change the system
you abide exactly by the ways
the system created for you
to think you can go about
changing its system
only to continuously wonder,
“what am I missing?”
when I see change and movements
settling for the celebration
of inches!
Convicts! Can I get a Witness?!

you can’t change
what you innately fear
you can’t change
who you fear
you’ve given them all the power
you thought you were
empowering with
change happens on the
blood sweat and tears
of martyrs and revolutionaries
(eh mhm, I Am…A Revolutionary!)

not tiptoeing, good-hearted
followers of every rule
which only serve to
further limit, subjugate
contradict and confuse

Not liberals without
a, “selfless fuze”
will I Ever believe in
to give the meter it’s
biggest moves

my hope in you
is why I lose
because I know what I
get with the system
it’s consequences and
engendered behaviors I exhibit

but sitting on my lily pad
starring up at totem poles
I cant respect a frog
or a toad, scared to
leap! and only
“ribbits!”
I wish
you would get it
instead of doubling down
on your methods and contributions
just to feel offended
because there’s lives on the line
I wish
it wouldn’t take so much time
for you to get it

Filed Under: 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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