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Prose of a Con

Poetry and Prose by Russell Wardlow

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Mercy

Hope is Real

April 16, 2018 by Russell Wardlow Leave a Comment

Hope is real
It’s tangible, metaphysically speaking
but its also a tool
Just as faith has been used
It’s designed to maintain order, control
to keep people compliant subservient docile
without hope
what would the slaves without hope of freedom?
Prisoners and felons without hope of a chance?
The oppressed and poor without hope of a break?
The silenced and scorned women without hope of being heard?
The neglected, touched and abused children without hope of help and vindication?
without hope
There is anarchy, calamity, rage, war
and chaos-which is a lack of order
The only one that doesn’t exist today
The absence of order, order will be kept
Hope is real…

Filed Under: Inside, Mercy, Spirit, Trauma

I had dreamed

April 16, 2018 by Russell Wardlow Leave a Comment

I had dreamed

maybe I was living a fantasy

running from tomorrow

shadows always catch up.

Who would understand

snow in the summer?

I can never find warmth.

Love buried

within that deep white blanket

too vast to escape,

Despair, her name.

She spoke

high regard

for her mother,

Misery.

Longing, her father

distant, but

no denying the relation.

Never wake me

my coma is bliss,

to wake

I would know

Longing and

Misery,

parents to

my apparent,

Despair.

Filed Under: Inside, Mercy, Spirit

From Rags to Ranks

April 13, 2018 by Russell Wardlow Leave a Comment

From rags to ranks
Humvees and tanks
Ships, submarines and planes
Keeping our freedoms safe
There is never enough thanks
For the ways of the brave
Fierce yet fameless, a forgotten face
A sacrificial heart, enduring a mind that may break
The losses of comrades, the reality of mortality, how much can you take
Not enough done to procure the flowers before they wilt inside the vase
When I’m yawning, your bed is already made
Not a thread or lace out of place
I salute your valor on and off base
To all who’ve fought valiantly for freedom regardless of politics, I give my full-hearted Thanks

-Inspired by my big cousin, SirWayne Wardlow, one of my silent Heroes-
There can be more done for our vets, while coming out to mediocre opportunities, sacrifice and heroics become cliché. The system needs vetting, capitalism shouldn’t dilute heroism. In war, in the military, America.. Americans, are the consumers, the benefactors…if the business world and politics reward the contributors, than why not America better reward its contributors..money shouldn’t rule the world if lives brand it..but who am I kidding? To my family specifically, I admire love and respect you, to the countless others, appreciation for the under-appreciated, simply put…Thank you

Filed Under: Culture, Love, Mercy

Pain

March 23, 2018 by Russell Wardlow Leave a Comment

Pain
Is a flower that must grow
Through a soil that is only enriched by tears
We can never understand the purpose in its process
But if we choose to
We can see the beauty that blossoms
And the clarity inhaled through its nectar
So pain, becomes purpose, becomes love
Love is persistent
And though it may die
You can’t change the fact…that it existed

 

Filed Under: Love, Mercy, Spirit, Trauma

Been through it

January 15, 2018 by Russell Wardlow Leave a Comment

I been through the system, symptoms
Been opened my eyes mom and dad was missing, mission
I try to talk to the world but the world won’t listen, vision
When I close my eyes more prayers and wishing
And then I open my eyes, nay Sayers and critics
New places of living, I never prayed for forgiveness
I couldn’t take to religion, too many pages were missing
I worried more about my stomach aches, not my faith that was missing
No help, they ain’t fit to live in the world that I live in
I guess it’s safe to say they stayed in denial from distance
No peers on the side of the aisle when I was on trial as a misfit
Dad dead, mom in prison
Separated from siblings
I hold my head up and wonder if God is listening
Then ask him why I feel pain
So much trauma in my life now I don’t feel pain
I don’t feel sane..I been through this system

Filed Under: Culture, Inside, Mercy, Trauma

Go Girl

January 15, 2018 by Russell Wardlow Leave a Comment

Go head girl, get ahead girl
But don’t be giving head and don’t be spreading your legs girl
You lost playin it safe, now you living on the edge girl
Keep your distance from those predators, don’t keep sharing your bed girl
Sometimes the company you keep will keep you from comfortable sleep
You may lay awake scared to see your face in a dream,
Because the things you faced chasing your dream
The best thing you can do is think
Don’t try to numb it in a drink
The best thing you can do is blink
In that mirror above your sink
Don’t sink, never crawl up and shrink
You may not be far from the brink
It’s easy to fall in the dark, you may feel like you fallin apart
But you came too far just to fall
Never stray far from your heart, remember to follow your heart
And…go head girl, get ahead girl

Filed Under: Culture, 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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