Notes from Exile: Memory
Log/Verse: daily reflections from prison, written every morning at my bunk. Part poem, part log book.
Since this week’s Justice Notes explored the nature of memoir, and how memory shapes what we recall, I’m sharing a short poem I wrote in prison that touches on the same idea.
Memory
They say you get
stupid in
prison.
The most familiar
words,
on the tip of your
tongue,
your best friend’s
name,
your daughter’s
age,
your address at
home,
the year you were
married,
like chalk on your
brain.
One thing you never
forget,
the day you
arrived.
This poem is from my collection A Different Kind of Hell, written during my time in a federal prison camp and published by Moonstone Press.
📖 Order A Different Kind of Hell here Moonstone Press
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