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A lush green forest with trees and moss
Photo by Marc Pell on Unsplash

One day when you wake, you’ll find you’ve become
a forest. You’ve grown roots, you’ve become stronger
and full of life-giving qualities. You have learned to take
all the negativity around you and turn it into oxygen
for easy breathing. A host of wild creatures live inside you,
and you call them stories. A variety of beautiful birds nest
inside your mind; you call them memories. You have become
an incredible, self-sustaining thing of epic proportions. How far
you have come from the seeds of who you used 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.

Courtney Austin is a poet incarcerated in Tennessee.