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Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

It’s not going to be easy
With my life on parole
Gettin’ out, out of the pen 
Coming home to see what’s left
My wife hit the road long ago
Don’t drink again
Is what I’ve been told
So I’m working
Got me a job
People at meetings talkin’ bout God
I don’t need whisky
But it’s something I want

I love a Goddess and Pan wants me drunk
Dinner for two
I met a girl, she seems cool
She don’t want pearls
She wants a man to open up doors
But she wants Bacardi
And that makes me naughty

Disclaimer: The views in this article are those of the author. Prison Journalism Project has verified the writer’s identity and basic facts such as the names of institutions mentioned.

Harold Sanford Carter III

Harold Sanford Carter III is a musician and activist whose poetry has been published in the Journal of Progressive Health and Human Services as well as the American Prison Writing Archive. He was formerly incarcerated in Pennsylvania.