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Image by Jilbert Ebrahimi via Unsplash

They are cast aside, rejected
Longing for that day, dejected
Harboring torment, desperate
Illusions of normality
Twisted sick, corrupt captors
Like a black hole, it sucks you in
The environment, the elements, the rhetoric
Nontransparent and hidden from society
To our families once begotten
But now only forgotten
They are broken around him
Fallen, one by one, again and again
The sickness is in the air
But he fights it
His gas mask the only person who’s always cared
Fighting to persevere, detractors become irrelevant
He remains headstrong, steadfast,  and whole
And Will never fall as a broken soul 
His chin high, his chest out, he is benevolent

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.

Adrien Espinoza

Adrien Espinoza is a writer and poet incarcerated in Phoenix, Arizona.