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Prose of a Con

Poetry and Prose by Russell Wardlow

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Inside

panoramic malevolence

Optical Ill-lusions

June 30, 2022

in other news… we were watching the news and I heard a “prisoner” say “damn,…

More Optical Ill-lusions

Generational Curse (spoken word)

June 28, 2022

I am a generational curse I am my generation’s curse cursed, fuck! I am the…

More Generational Curse (spoken word)

Some Things Better Kept Between Two or Few…but I’ma Share this Even if it isn’t Alright with You

June 21, 2022

Hey Lauren, Thank you for your concern, your genuine reaction and heartfelt connection are always…

More Some Things Better Kept Between Two or Few…but I’ma Share this Even if it isn’t Alright with You

Misguided Astronautical Musings

May 5, 2022

unsuccessfully I chased you to Moon and back traversing zero gravity exploring parts unknown rationalizing…

More Misguided Astronautical Musings

Mental Mishaps

May 5, 2022

for it is that I tell my mind how much it knows and that I…

More Mental Mishaps

FTW

May 3, 2022

the things I say now may not be grasped until later but if you truly…

More FTW

And You too, Touche

May 3, 2022

those imprisoning the prisoners unknowingly imprisoned by the very premise and paradigm of the prison…

More And You too, Touche

Where am I?

May 3, 2022

today I looked from my top bunk and saw my position an overhead lay out…

More Where am I?

A Reflective Letter Sent to a Friend

May 3, 2022

hmm I wonder if I have to say this or is everything existential and essential…

More A Reflective Letter Sent to a Friend

Mental Clockwork

May 3, 2022

time has a mind of its own or the mind has a time of its…

More Mental Clockwork

Crazy Patience

May 3, 2022

I’m told to be patient there is a mastery to be claimed hence but what…

More Crazy Patience

Go Figure

May 3, 2022

I’ve been ready ready to die ready to die all my life now that I’m…

More Go Figure

Lived Genius

April 11, 2022

you have letters, but I have numbers after my name I have all the experience…

More Lived Genius

If a Prisoner was a Politician

April 10, 2022

I recently heard a prisoner say, “we invest in weapons of mass destruction but not…

More If a Prisoner was a Politician

I know I am, but so are You

April 10, 2022

institutionalization is conformity systems indoctrinate institutions institutions administer people systems classify organizations and organisms people…

More I know I am, but so are You

Even in Prison there is a Circle of Life

April 5, 2022

I watch fat birds flying free in my misery getting full from food we refuse…

More Even in Prison there is a Circle of Life

What’s Being Learned From and Who is Considered the Learned?

April 5, 2022

I heard from a fellow convict: “history is about knowing and understanding what happened, why…

More What’s Being Learned From and Who is Considered the Learned?

Mundane Reflections, Still Learning

March 6, 2022

a black man walks into a stall in prison to urinate, he closes his eyes…

More Mundane Reflections, Still Learning

Figure of Speech (Free-verse)

March 3, 2022

I am the definition of an acrobatic radical versatile as my vertebrae vertical verses reverse…

More Figure of Speech (Free-verse)

Prison, is a Place for Ghosts?!

February 15, 2022

pt. 1 prison is a place I go to often in my mind jogged in…

More Prison, is a Place for Ghosts?!

Oh, the Irony

January 17, 2022

recreating myself into another superficiality to define my being in your superficial reality who am…

More Oh, the Irony

Subjects of Subjugating Subjectives and Sublimation

January 17, 2022

how selfish would it be if I were to admit a blasphemous thing those two…

More Subjects of Subjugating Subjectives and Sublimation

I See People

November 27, 2021

I’ve seen people, come to prison with violent crimes and leave with addictions I’ve seen…

More I See People

Global Tel-Missing-Link

October 27, 2021

building connections on a payphone when the time is limited tentative and expensive pretending with…

More Global Tel-Missing-Link

Confined Romantic

October 27, 2021

romantic fantasies help me sway and fade out it’d be a Cinderella story if I…

More Confined Romantic

I Got a Story to Tell

October 27, 2021

to the performance stage, from a prison cell I got a story to tell chaos…

More I Got a Story to Tell

Damnit

September 1, 2021

the man got me by the balls the devil got me by the ankles I…

More Damnit

Freedomite

September 1, 2021

I didn’t get sentenced to give away all these years to give a damn about…

More Freedomite

Inside Interference

September 1, 2021

unbeknownst all we have been doing, is getting in our own way, then blaming something,…

More Inside Interference

Socio-Structural Derivatives

September 1, 2021

there is parity here so much so in that it is in all actuality imparity.…

More Socio-Structural Derivatives

And it Goes On

August 22, 2021

here we go again anger and fear the most potent concoction here it’s too common…

More And it Goes On

When I Couldn’t See, Myself

August 22, 2021

to every teacher you reached me and I ask your forgiveness I didn’t know how…

More When I Couldn’t See, Myself

Trapped

August 22, 2021

think they understand you not realizing your actions results from how they demand you stereotypes…

More Trapped

Thing Chasing

July 21, 2021

lost myself losing things lost things lose people people lose things loss seems like self-lost…

More Thing Chasing

If I Must be Black, Let Me be Black in Peace

July 9, 2021

do you hear me? let me be black in peace! your way is not, interrupted…

More If I Must be Black, Let Me be Black in Peace

Theory of New Growth

July 7, 2021

when you have new growth and you grow in a place outside which you first…

More Theory of New Growth

Vent

July 6, 2021

I feel if I don’t come out all tough then it’ll seem like prison wasn’t…

More Vent

My Mama Veered Left, but We ALL-RIGHT

July 3, 2021

I just found out… before my mom went back to jail she started using again…

More My Mama Veered Left, but We ALL-RIGHT

The Wisdom, Before the Fool

July 1, 2021

to know what you are you must see something alike to know who you are…

More The Wisdom, Before the Fool

Shh, for Our Sake, or Mine

June 26, 2021

for I have a secret, I can’t tell. heavy is the heart, it dwells. Crack!…

More Shh, for Our Sake, or Mine

Where Will You Be?

June 25, 2021

when I am free where will you be? where will you be, when I am…

More Where Will You Be?

Shelled

June 19, 2021

I’m simply a mollusk too soft for this world so I’ve grown a hard shell…

More Shelled

Expendable

June 9, 2021

is not life worth living for? then why hast thou punished my effort fore I…

More Expendable

Mental Warfare

June 3, 2021

I ran into a barrier of some sort falling down from the brunt impact surprise…

More Mental Warfare

High Thoughts

June 1, 2021

to a person in prison. Let’s say me. Viewing a person who thinks highly of…

More High Thoughts

Flame Thrower

May 30, 2021

celly eh mhm… SHUT THE FUCK UP! damn I can’t have any peace and quiet…

More Flame Thrower

No Fragility

May 26, 2021

I made my heart a fortress my man made mind a forest pondering my fortune…

More No Fragility

Just Waiting on You is All

May 25, 2021

a person died…inside of here he could’ve been saved but the responders…correctional officers were slow…

More Just Waiting on You is All

What The Hell

May 22, 2021

I almost killed myself blah blah, what the hell I ain’t ask for no one’s…

More What The Hell

I See You Mama

May 22, 2021

I see you mama don’t be led astray by these deceitful people, nor let the…

More I See You Mama

Reflecting to my Son

May 12, 2021

reflecting on where has my life gone remembering everything that I ever did wrong sometimes…

More Reflecting to my Son

Whose Feelings are These?

May 9, 2021

I don’t know if if if if I have e if I have emo if…

More Whose Feelings are These?

Living Hell

May 9, 2021

imagine if hell is your worst day repeated over and over and life is a…

More Living Hell

Freed

May 8, 2021

trying to control what you do not understand, it is fear! release me! from Yours…

More Freed

The Nerve of You

May 6, 2021

you came to prison to be a leader and a servant and then some combo…

More The Nerve of You

Not as Crazy as I Once was

May 6, 2021

I know you may think I’m crazy I know this may sound irrational like projected…

More Not as Crazy as I Once was

Liberating Comforts

May 6, 2021

today I had a root beer float I tasted freedom yum! what prison when I’m…

More Liberating Comforts

Baby Booming Guards

May 6, 2021

I came in a young man, my eyes still hazy but they opened quickly, becoming…

More Baby Booming Guards

Stoic Chauvin

April 26, 2021

mysterious, your last name short for chauvinism stoic and calm, your reserve sure bold and…

More Stoic Chauvin

I Would Like to Smile

April 22, 2021

I want to smile in fact I love to smile universe willing, I think I…

More I Would Like to Smile

see no, speak no, Here No-detour

April 22, 2021

dear, ears ears here here- here ears hear hear fears fears near near peers peers…

More see no, speak no, Here No-detour

NO joke

April 22, 2021

“I thought… “I thought… “I thought… “I thought… but Mr. Officer your assumptions are killing…

More NO joke

Phantoms of Democracy

April 22, 2021

invisible attacker visible wounds invisible pain visible reactions invisible ailment visible symptoms invisible torment visible…

More Phantoms of Democracy

Rainy Wait

April 15, 2021

in the rain we wait not for the seasons coming growth but for commissary, prison…

More Rainy Wait

Dear Correctional Officer

April 8, 2021

Dear Correctional Officer hmm well here we go again I guess I’m just an unprivileged…

More Dear Correctional Officer

Feet Don’t Fail Me Now

April 4, 2021

through every cheer and jeer feet don’t fail me now, I can see the end…

More Feet Don’t Fail Me Now

Can I Live?

April 4, 2021

Sarah Grimke said, I ask no favor for my sex, all I ask from our…

More Can I Live?

Stimulus Call

April 4, 2021

stimulus checks are arriving for us inside follow the money and you’ll often see what…

More Stimulus Call

Along Came a Spider

April 4, 2021

there once was a spider that came out the blue crawled from out of my…

More Along Came a Spider

Treasure Island

April 4, 2021

there are metal detectors here searching for lost and unseen treasures the correctional officers get…

More Treasure Island

Bugs Bunny

April 4, 2021

there’s this bunny the bunny visits me outside of my window every night I haven’t…

More Bugs Bunny

Less than Self-less

April 4, 2021

I’m not myself I am not ‘my’ self I am another self- an ‘other’ self…

More Less than Self-less

These Doors Haunt Me

April 3, 2021

prison is so. damn. traumatizing! I mean the sounds are so blunt, sharp, and sudden…

More These Doors Haunt Me

What Type of Time You On?!

April 1, 2021

this is the dark, where they hide light protect your heart, hind, and blindside because…

More What Type of Time You On?!

In My Void

April 1, 2021

in my void, I created you, in my absence I re-created my void and now…

More In My Void

More Than a Call

April 1, 2021

I can only image how ordinary it must have felt for you getting on the…

More More Than a Call

Not just a Game?

April 1, 2021

he just won $50,000! that takes him to over $200,000 in earnings each slip up,…

More Not just a Game?

This Shit Humiliating

March 30, 2021

in prison we have few but distinctive privacies all which we behold and apprise the…

More This Shit Humiliating

My Cellmate is the Psychopath in Me

March 29, 2021

he mirrors the darkness in me thoughts I think and quell and feelings I stifle,…

More My Cellmate is the Psychopath in Me

Safe and Soundless

March 25, 2021

quiet as kept what’s quiet, is kept my quiet unkept I require a breath (exhale)…

More Safe and Soundless

no mea culpa

March 20, 2021

contrary to public preference and expectations I’m not sorry for the laws I disobeyed ONLY…

More no mea culpa

Plans Forwarded, Moved Backwards

March 18, 2021

I have to unlearn, what I unlearned and re-learn, what I tried forgetting and then…

More Plans Forwarded, Moved Backwards

Lethal Injection

March 18, 2021

black people don’t have the best history in America… well there’s more to this statement,…

More Lethal Injection

Home is Where I Had to Make

March 18, 2021

I feel the beast calling to me consuming me back into her belly and it…

More Home is Where I Had to Make

Unrecognizable

March 17, 2021

they are dead what they once were they are no longer so tell me if…

More Unrecognizable

Worth More Alive than Dead, but Death Costs Less

March 17, 2021

People,… Peeeeople, I was once knew as warriors, are now dead…dead inside, and dead outside,…

More Worth More Alive than Dead, but Death Costs Less

Smokers Lane

March 12, 2021

I sleep here so I can’t not notice it surrounds me and to be aware,…

More Smokers Lane

Bedrock

March 12, 2021

this damn bedrocks and not like the cradle I never had it shakes squeaks and…

More Bedrock

WriteOrDie

March 11, 2021

writing prose poems sleeplessly 2:44 a.m. hyper-driven send.

More WriteOrDie

Aiming from the Ground (Lyrics)

March 10, 2021

(chorus/hook): I been 100 I keep it 100 I’m going a hunned I move like…

More Aiming from the Ground (Lyrics)

States of Mind

March 10, 2021

I can’t tell my state of mind when I write I have so many states…

More States of Mind

Humpty Dumpty (Lyrics)

March 10, 2021

(poetically rapped free verse:) umm, attention on the mic is everything alright? it’s dark, I…

More Humpty Dumpty (Lyrics)

Missing Person

March 8, 2021

misled misused mistaken misunderstood misperceived misjudged misnamed misheard missing

More Missing Person

Hamster Wheel

March 6, 2021

he walks up and down stairs they walk round and round the track he paces…

More Hamster Wheel

The 13th Illusion

March 5, 2021

Emancipation is just etiquette, it armed the hatred swarmed more harm for the hated outdoing…

More The 13th Illusion

Late Night Riffs

March 3, 2021

delusions of a new life cruising in the moon light communing ’til the mood right…

More Late Night Riffs

Road Trip

March 2, 2021

you see me but you don’t see me you hear me but you don’t hear…

More Road Trip

Freedom Writer

February 27, 2021

often we do the things we have yet to do what started off in our…

More Freedom Writer

Remember My Place

February 26, 2021

remember my place where I’ve been placed its lack of, yet ever opening space a…

More Remember My Place

Miserable Company

February 24, 2021

we came together us three, and made one one body of, shock shame and shackles-…

More Miserable Company

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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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  • 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

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