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Prose of a Con

Poetry and Prose by Russell Wardlow

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I See People

November 27, 2021 by Russell Wardlow Leave a Comment

I’ve seen people,
come to prison with violent crimes and leave with addictions
I’ve seen people,
come to prison from drug addictions and leave with addictions to prescription
I’ve seen people, come to prison and die before the end of their sentence
I’ve seen people
who have been condemned to die in prison!

“they win, when they make you feel that you are alone”
that’s a line from Star Wars
I’d wonder if my family ever seen it
because then maybe they’d get it
but no point in wondering,
because I know they didn’t

I’ve seen correctional officers correct correctional officers
then subject correctional convicts to objectional vengeance
and then head the news with new charges from their real-life decisions
because their morality at their job was just payment for pretending
now they are in protected cordoned-off areas beginning…
in a place they thought would be my ending
and their fate…pending

I’ve seen predators come to prison and be model citizens
until they get beyond the fences and remodel their modeled innocence
replaying traumatic images
inflicted within this “beneficient” system that became their menacing nemesis
running from the implications of the emotionally charged title convicting them
hiding within work effort and religious involvement in front of prisoners as if they are convincing them

but freedom for them is just as hard as the man for decades still claiming his innocence
a being still being crippled by the remnants of dreaded reminiscing-

of lions roarings and snakes hissing
and spiders crawling, and birds flaunting
as thoughts wander, and sleep jaunting
and nightmares normal, and dreams haunting
and bodies haunched, as chairs launching!
and doors slamming, and keys taunting!
and mail re-routed and dial tones calling!
as knives joust, with anger mounting!
with day rooms crowding, and nerves crawling!
and fights brawling, then thin skin jaundiced!
and fear crouching, and blood sprawling!
and walls burning, and roofs falling!
and lost darlings, but pride dauntless!
while coffin cautious…
as coughs and yawns are crossed with
being the sick and tired crossfit raucous masses mashed into compartments
with bared closets and squandered losses
as the night fawns over the sun’s dawning
and through it all
since I’ve been through it all
now involvement being a fly on the wall
I’m scrawling through all this!
absorbing all this!
toxic
nauseous
gastric
bypasses
matched with
fractured
factions
fractioned
til fragile,
then ashes!
we all
fall
down…

Filed Under: Inside, 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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