Notes from Exile: HomeBridge Voices
Log/Verse: daily reflections from prison, written every morning at my bunk. Part poem, part log book.
Tonight’s Log/Verse includes something special.
I want to share the work of Juan Mercado, a member of HomeBridge Ventures, a Connecticut nonprofit dedicated to helping formerly incarcerated people rebuild their lives through employment, counseling, and creative expression.
Juan’s poetry speaks directly to loss, resilience, and renewal—themes that echo the journeys of so many who pass through incarceration and return to community.
Here are two of his pieces: My Mother and Angels in Disguise.
My Mother by Juan Mercado
My mother was my mentor.
My mother was my friend.
My mother gave me good advice
all the way to the end.
When my mother died,
I felt all alone,
And everything around me
felt like a big storm.
My heart ripped apart,
My anger grew so strong,
My mind was in limp mode
And my soul was all alone.
I numbed my pain with drugs
So I wouldn’t feel the pain,
But all it did was
Make me feel more pain.
There was a time in life
That I was going all insane.
And only through prayers
Did I become numb to the pain.
Thank you, Lord, for
All the things you’ve done for me.
For the first time in my life,
I can say that I feel free.
Angels in Disguise by Juan Mercado
God bless the people that work with kids that have cancer.
May your days be long and your health be strong
so you can continue helping the sick regain their health and make them strong.
For being part of every prayer that parents make,
you are the tool God used, make no mistake.
You are a hero in the parents’ and child’s eyes,
you are an angel sent from Heaven in a doctor disguise.
It takes a lot of strength and a solid soul to withstand the losses and broken homes,
but for all that survive and the families you reunite,
that’s the flame that helps your spirit ignite.
I thank the Lord for His angels in disguise,
cause one of those angels saved my sister’s life.
You can read more of my log verse, published in Minutes Before Six, a literary journal that publishes writing by formerly incarcerated writers.
Beautiful