Gabriel City » Forgotten http://gabrielcity.com Gabriel City is a community for the tens of millions of Americans directly affected by our criminal justice system. We come together to share our stories and help to shape new ones. Inmates and the formerly incarcerated, family members of those serving time, men and women under community supervision, professionals in criminal justice and corrections, and the victims of crime; we support and respect each other as we work to break the endless cycle of crime and incarceration that afflicts our nation. Wed, 06 Jul 2011 19:18:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 The Forgotten Victim http://gabrielcity.com/poetry-and-spoken-word/the-forgotten-victim.html http://gabrielcity.com/poetry-and-spoken-word/the-forgotten-victim.html#comments Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:48:47 +0000 hcdmedia http://gabrielcity.com/?p=1952 The Forgotten Victim
©  Alison Henderson

‘That’s her there! her hubby’s inside!’
‘How can she stand by him?’ a neighbor cried!
‘I’d throw away the lock and key!’
‘That husband of hers should never be free!’

‘That woman can do so much better than him!’
‘I’d throw all his letters away in the bin!’
‘Just what can he offer now he’s locked away?’
‘A complete waste of space!’ she shouted that day.

‘That’s the one there! her boyfriend’s inside!
‘He’s scum of the earth!’ a neighbors implied!
‘If I was her, well I’d meet someone else!
‘Not wasting my life to be left on the shelf!

‘That woman’s been left to cope with the shame’
‘It was all over the papers! and gave out his name’
‘He’s useless! A criminal! Bring back the rope!’
‘He’ll do it again! for him there’s no hope!’

My comment:

That man you condemn has a child and a wife
A Mum and a Dad who has given him life!
What would you do if this happened to yours?
Deny all your love and close all the doors?

Do you honestly think I’d sink to a level
And just turn my back and deem him a devil?
Yes! He’s done wrong and is serving his time
And No! I do not agree with his crime.

‘That woman’ you point at, yes it is me
I was born with a name, as I’m human you see!
I’m innocent! just incase you’ve forgot
And love him whether you like it or not!

I’ve had the abuse, the comments and more
It’s nothing I haven’t heard all before
I mean no offense when I say this to you
I’m a victim as well- A forgotten one too.

Read more prison poetry here.

]]> http://gabrielcity.com/poetry-and-spoken-word/the-forgotten-victim.html/feed 0 The World of the Forgotten http://gabrielcity.com/poetry-and-spoken-word/the-world-of-the-forgotten-2.html http://gabrielcity.com/poetry-and-spoken-word/the-world-of-the-forgotten-2.html#comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:50:48 +0000 hcdmedia http://gabrielcity.com/?p=2117 My house is one of heartache
A place of steel and stone
A barren cell, a home in hell
And here I stand, alone
And when I rage and pace my cage
That no man wants to own
My body aches with frozen stakes
That chill me to the bone
I hear them sling their giant keys
And crank the iron locks
The scrape of feet upon concrete
The guards patrol the blocks
Convicts’ knives take human lives
No jungle holds more danger
And each new day that comes my way
Each man remains a stranger
I watch my back ’cause there’s a lack
Of men who can be trusted
And through the haze there comes a rage
Toward the rat that got me busted.
They came today and took away
The man that lived next door
To end his strife, he took his life
He couldn’t take no more.
It’s quiet here upon the tier
Since Death has claimed a brother
Now each of us are wondering:
Who might be another?

by BRIAN JOHNSEN, #300907, 1115 H. St. Modesto, CA 95354

]]> http://gabrielcity.com/poetry-and-spoken-word/the-world-of-the-forgotten-2.html/feed 0 The World of the Forgotten http://gabrielcity.com/poetry-and-spoken-word/the-world-of-the-forgotten.html http://gabrielcity.com/poetry-and-spoken-word/the-world-of-the-forgotten.html#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:20:51 +0000 hcdmedia http://gabrielcity.com/?p=1665 My house is one of heartache
A place of steel and stone
A barren cell, a home in hell
And here I stand, alone
And when I rage and pace my cage
That no man wants to own
My body aches with frozen stakes
That chill me to the bone
I hear them sling their giant keys
And crank the iron locks
The scrape of feet upon concrete
The guards patrol the blocks
Convicts’ knives take human lives
No jungle holds more danger
And each new day that comes my way
Each man remains a stranger
I watch my back ’cause there’s a lack
Of men who can be trusted
And through the haze there comes a rage
Toward the rat that got me busted.
They came today and took away
The man that lived next door
To end his strife, he took his life
He couldn’t take no more.
It’s quiet here upon the tier
Since Death has claimed a brother
Now each of us are wondering:
Who might be another?

-Brian Johnsen #300937, 1115 H. St., Modesto, CA 95354

You can read more prison poetry online.

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