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I wish I could give you my eyes
Because then you would see …
The wasted days and empty maze,
That pads below our feet

I wish I could give you my eyes,
Awakened from sleep
Aware, though times are nightmarish
That life is a dream

I’d show you views of mountaintops,
The plains and in between
Man isn’t good or evil,
Just somewhere in between

You’d watch the skies alive with hope,
Of what love has in store
And scale the walls of loneliness,
Potential to explore

I wish I could give you my eyes
Because then you would see …
The past has past, and all that matters,
Is what we aim to be

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.

Silas M. Johnson

Silas M. Johnson holds an undergraduate degree in psychology at Imperial Valley College, and is the author of a poetry/composition book, “A River’s Light in a Barren Tunnel: Elegies in Effigy.” He is incarcerated in California.