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Prose of a Con

Poetry and Prose by Russell Wardlow

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Mercy

Omens

March 4, 2021 by Russell Wardlow Leave a Comment

wolf
howling in the distance
conceding an omen
a pile of bones
left in my closet
I’m sending to storage
pandemics,
paradoxes,
and paranormal portraits
swinging
on my leaning walls
coming in and out of focus
secrets
being whispered within the wind
’til I feel the breeze
life forces
life pushes
me down to my knees
only for me to understand
something deeper
than the height at which I stand

Filed Under: Mercy, Spirit, Trauma

Sacrifice

February 28, 2021 by Russell Wardlow Leave a Comment

sacrifice
why must one lose
for another to win
why must one choose
as if only one can win
why can’t sacrifice
be a celebration of options
where we both can win
and compliment each other in and ’til, the end?

Filed Under: Mercy

Dear Diary,

February 27, 2021 by Russell Wardlow Leave a Comment

how do you court a ghost, phantom, angel, goddess, or spirit?
with patience, surrender, or relentless perseverance?
don’t answer that, you’ll be giving up secrets you don’t want to offer up…because you may lie within one of them…some mysteries are better kept unknown, though it makes seeking pointless, but I guess that all falls beneath or within the forbidden sky…wondering if I’ll ever be granted entrance or just be a gatekeeper, too chaotic to exist in such a calm
night time, I’m literally that lone wolf, enthralled with the moon, purging out everything I am and have absorbed that day, emptying myself for a new morrow

Filed Under: Love, Mercy

Untitled

February 25, 2021 by Russell Wardlow Leave a Comment

I felt your fingers from beyond
imagine my surprise
the only touch my spirit called for
and in the midst of my darkest hour
I felt you
reaching me
balancing me
guiding me
back to what was once light
and I can’t even begin to tell you
how it felt
the familiar feeling of ‘forever’
but I know it was you
Thank You.

Filed Under: Love, Mercy

A Moment of Darkness

February 23, 2021 by Russell Wardlow Leave a Comment

there’s a nefarious cloud
hovering
its dark, carnivorous dominion
fangs oozing black, thick syrupy liquid
forming into malevolent bodies of darkness
cloaking and devouring any source of light-
that was once my hope-
I only cling to you
although you escape my vision
your image lingers like nostalgia,
in my mind’s eye
only solace is captured
because your distance alludes my ego’s grip
but not my faith
your spirit acting as a net
saving me from a deeper plummet
into the abyss
kingdom of the unknown,
and fear
however improbable,
still I rest
with a heightened courage
complimenting me like a partners warmth
knowing you’ll be there
still
until light reigns once again
shinning upon us both
while
illuminating the path we trek
because darkness
was only ever
a moment
but you
and I,
eternal

Filed Under: Mercy, Trauma

Bird Drawn

February 2, 2021 by Russell Wardlow Leave a Comment

your words paint my disposition
my intuition is spirit driven
you give my spirit vision
you transcend all my fences
you blend then bend division
and reap endless fruition
your grace makes amends with tension
I seek your light and permission
I see a life forgiven
I read the signs you give me
and even scribe you with them
you help contrive a rhythm
I once disguised with venom
so I could hide from critics…
um, I think life’s a riddle
soooo sight is fickle
and time will trickle
like sun shinning on some hanging ice that sickled
understanding oneness, duality, and the trinity while still trying to arrive at middle
my mind writes you scribbled
you keep my mind in ribbons
you peak my mind’s eye attention
so I can fly suspended
to higher heights of livin’
and untimed dimensions
I once one sidedly sighed, was fiction
from one mind and one side of vision
beyond the mind bind of needing a Christ that risen inside religion
I’m freer with a piece of mind that lives and dies in the minutes
hopefully fated ties, place me at your side, forming the very light we were assigned since the beginning
with the skies as our witness
as we fly, drawn before time, disguised within limits

Filed Under: Love, Mercy, Spirit

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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.

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

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