Two Cats and A Prison Yard

img_2546-1

The first animal I saw on the yard that was neither bird nor rodent was a white cat. The Summer heat broiled the cell, and on this evening I lay on my bunk half-naked beneath a small clip on fan praying for relief. I had one of those atomic clocks, you know the type: time, date, day of the week, and the temperature for good measure. The digital numbers had just flicked to 9:00PM. I snatched at the clock and eyed the temperature: 95F. Puh.

Continue reading “Two Cats and A Prison Yard”

#22: Video Fridays in 60 Seconds — Better To Give Than To Receive

ARTWORK: “Girl and Boy,” By (OH) Anonymous. The children are the daughter and son of an inmate on his first year of a ten year sentence. Every week a new art or craft will be showcased in Video Fridays In 60 Seconds.

Today returning guest writer James P. Keihl, II asks the question: Why aren’t inmates allowed to donate blood? Astonishingly this is true, yet there are millions of inmates nationwide that could be a valued source of life saving blood. If only 10% of those incarcerated donated a pint of blood once a month, it would equate to many tens of thousands of additional pints monthly, and hundreds of thousands of pints of life saving blood per year.

Continue reading “#22: Video Fridays in 60 Seconds — Better To Give Than To Receive”

#21: Video Fridays in 60 Seconds — New Guest Writer C.H.: “A Love Letter For Loss”

ARTWORK: “Man and Girl,” By OH Anonymous, is a fine pencil portrait taken from a visitation photo. The man in the photo is serving a life sentence. He is hugging the love of his life.

*This art piece along with others can be viewed in the Gallery selection in the Menu up top.


I’ve written a few times about what it’s like to lose loved ones while incarcerated: In Grieving In Fast Forward, Ryleigh Payne–An Angel Returns Home and in It Is What It Is. I’ve witnessed guys lose bothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, and even daughters or sons. As if this couldn’t get any worse, I’ve known men who’ve lost the very last person in their life, left alone to drift in the world with no contact on the outside and no one to turn to. I’ve comforted so many of my peers during these moments that my own family’s mortality frequently weighs on my mind.

Continue reading “#21: Video Fridays in 60 Seconds — New Guest Writer C.H.: “A Love Letter For Loss””