Searching for the Key

by Harold Wesley July 20, 2022July 18, 2022

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Searching for the Key

by Harold Wesley, Prison Journalism Project
July 20, 2022

<h1>Searching for the Key</h1>
<p class="byline">by Harold Wesley, Prison Journalism Project <br />July 20, 2022</p>
 <br />
<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prisonjournalismproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/HaroldWesley.ART-KEYTOFREEDOM-Web-PartB.052322-687x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-20167" width="515" height="768" /><figcaption>Illustration by Harold Wesley</figcaption></figure>
<p>The answer to being truly free is when you use the key to unlock the padlocks in your brain, to bring full enlightenment.&nbsp;</p>
<p>I call this piece “Searching for the Key.” This is how I feel sometimes, how people in my situation feel. We wait and we pray. We pray and we wait for that moment when the waiting is over.&nbsp;</p>
<p>I cannot wait. I must fight and continue to be used by God who sustains me and holds me to a higher standard. My hope is to never give up. I will keep pushing and trusting in something greater than myself. </p>
<p>Even in the darkest of moments, I will shine and shine bright like this key. So don’t cry when you see me in this thing called prison. Smile that I made it out to enjoy my freedom.</p>


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The answer to being truly free is when you use the key to unlock the padlocks in your brain, to bring full enlightenment.

I call this piece “Searching for the Key.” This is how I feel sometimes, how people in my situation feel. We wait and we pray. We pray and we wait for that moment when the waiting is over.

I cannot wait. I must fight and continue to be used by God who sustains me and holds me to a higher standard. My hope is to never give up. I will keep pushing and trusting in something greater than myself.

Even in the darkest of moments, I will shine and shine bright like this key. So don’t cry when you see me in this thing called prison. Smile that I made it out to enjoy my freedom.

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Harold Wesley

Harold Wesley is a writer and poet who wants to share his voice with the world. He is incarcerated in California.

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