Category Archives: Views From The Inside

What’s Wrong With You?

I’ve often wondered why prisoners are some of the most creative people I know.  Granted, I may have a distorted perspective because I’ve been incarcerated since I was seventeen years old, and I’m now forty-three. So most of the people I’ve ever known are prisoners, but it seems like a disproportionate percentage of them are highly creative compared to the general population.  Prisons are full of extremely talented artists, musicians, singers, poets, writers, inventors, tinkerers, incredible chess players, legal minds, and a multitude of other skilled and talented people.  Why?  Why do so many highly creative people end up in prison?

I, myself, was an extremely independent and inquisitive child, always needing to know why, always needing to know how things worked, dismantling and reassembling things.  I needed a reason for everything and could be excessively obstinate if told to just believe or do something without good reason.

I was nine when we moved to a small town in East Texas with more cows than people.  I didn’t fit in and almost immediately became an outsider, a non-conformist, a rule-breaker.    

“Welcome to parent-teacher night at ______ ______ school, where we want to encourage our students to be creative and independent thinkers.”

Oh, really? When my mother was repeatedly called because I was always drawing in class, she didn’t understand why it was such a problem.  

“Is he doing his assignments?”

“Yes, ma’am, but it is distracting.”

“How is it distracting if he is sitting there quietly drawing?”

“It is distracting to the teacher.”

“How is it distracting the teacher?”

“Because he is not paying attention to her.”

“But if he is completing his assignments, then he must be paying attention!”

“It’s disrespectful to the teacher.”

“Why are you always so hard on my son if he’s not disrupting class or bothering anyone?”

“Maybe I wouldn’t be so hard on him if you sent him to my Sunday school class at my church.”

The outsider kid who is a little different winds up in a few fights with ‘the good kids’ who go to church and bully others, gaining a ‘reputation’ as a trouble-maker amongst teachers and school officials.  Those teachers and officials all attend the same churches and local functions as local police who naturally view outsiders with suspicion… and now need to keep an eye on that kid with a reputation as he is a trouble-maker in school.  That same kid is then labeled as defiant and disrespectful of authority when he refuses to submit to corporal punishment at school because: one, ‘you’re not gonna hit me and get away with it‘; two, the blatant hypocrisy of ‘I’m gonna hit you to teach you a lesson that fighting is unacceptable’; and three, even at that age I found it supremely creepy for a grown man to bend pubescent boys over a chair and spank them with a giant wooden paddle.  You’re refusing swats?  Okay, you’re staying after school for detention.

“Why are you drawing in detention?  You’re supposed to be doing homework!”

“I don’t have any homework.”

“Don’t lie to me!  Everyone has homework!”

“I finished it in class.”

“Don’t get smart with me, boy, or I’ll give you more detention for insubordination!”

“What?  I didn’t do anything wrong!”

More detention – which I refuse to attend on principle.  It gets doubled… tripled… quadrupled.  Which I find amusing… and get suspended… then assigned to alternative school for the remainder of the semester… where I breeze through my assignments and get into more trouble for drawing in class.

I finally return to regular school where an English teacher tells me, “You’re so smart and talented, but you’re not applying yourself.”  So, I apply myself on a creative writing project only to be accused of plagiarism because, well, there’s just no way that rebellious little turd wrote that!  More detention… for ‘cheating’ on an assignment.  Seriously.  For doing my assignment too well?  Why bother anymore?  More detention for refusing to do assignments.  Lah-de-fucking-dah.  More alternative school for refusing to attend detention.  More problems at home because I’m ‘getting in trouble at school’.  I come to hate school and start skipping it.

At some point Mom gets exasperated with all of it.  “Why can’t you just be like other kids?!  Why can’t you just do what they tell you to do?”

“Because it’s dumb.  It serves no purpose, and I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“I know.   But it will make things so much easier for you if you just go along with it and do as you’re told.”

“Why is that a good reason to do something I disagree with?”

“What is wrong with you?  Why are you so stubborn?”

Eventually they convince her that there might be something wrong with me.  “What is wrong with you?”  I stare at the floor and mumble that I don’t know.  “If you don’t know, then who does?!”  I continue to stare at the floor and shrug.  “Look at me!”  But no matter how hard I try, my burning eyes quickly resume studying the pattern weave of the carpet.  “Why can’t you look at me?  What is wrong with you?”

At some point I’m convinced that there is something wrong with me.  I ponder this confusing question incessantly until it is internalized among all the other confusions I cannot yet unravel at that age.

“Are you even listening to me?”

How do I explain that my mind often wanders and pieces things together on its own while my attention remains captivated by something as simple as the gleam of light on the metal sleeve that joins pencil and eraser, studying how to recreate that metallic effect in a drawing?  Do you really expect an eleven or twelve year old to understand how their mind works or be able to explain it?

“There is something wrong with you.  You must be crazy or on drugs.”  (Not yet!)  “Why did you do that?!”

“Because I was…”

“Did you do it or not?  Yes or no?  I don’t want excuses!”

“I’m trying to explain!”

“Don’t talk back to me!  What is wrong with you?  Do as I say, not as I do.  Because I said so.  Don’t you dare look at me that way!”

I silently wonder – what way?  Is it the confusion that bothers you?  The pain?  Or the contempt?

“What is wrong with you?  What is wrong with you?!”

What is wrong with me?  Why am I so different?  Why do I always feel alone even among friends?  Why is it that the only time I’m at peace is when I’m drawing or writing?  Except now my drawings grow increasingly disturbing, and I often destroy them.  The same with my writing.  I destroy it before anyone reads my innermost thoughts, the ones preoccupied with despair and misery.  I destroy it before they have evidence that something truly is wrong with me.  Destroy it all.  Destroy everything and withdraw farther into myself.

“Ma’am, have you considered taking him to a psychologist?”

“Ma’am, I think our son has ADHD and needs to be on medication.”

Hey, kid, take your meds.  Take your drugs.  Take drugs so people will like you, so they will accept you, because there is something wrong with you that drugs will fix.  People don’t like you unless you take your drugs because who you are is unacceptable, not good enough.

“Doctor, the Ritalin isn’t working!”  

People fear what they don’t understand.  Now my own parents are afraid of me.  “Son, you can’t live here anymore, we don’t want you here.  We’re going to put you somewhere where you can get the help you need…” somewhere that you’ll be beaten and hospitalized twice, sexually abused, and placed on Thorazine because nothing transforms a confused thirteen-year-old boy into a drooling obedient little zombie like horse tranquilizers!  At least until insurance runs out and stops paying for the institutionalization.  (Yes, my thirteenth birthday was a suicidal tendencies song.)

Nowhere else to go but home (if you can call it that), even though they don’t want me there.  But if I run away, they report me to the police.  Now the police are always looking for me because I’m a ‘troubled kid’. 

“Take your meds!  Why aren’t you taking your meds?”  Why do I need to be on drugs for people to like me?  Or to like myself?  Is that even me?  Hmmm… I wonder what those drugs are like?  The drugs don’t fill the void, I simply no longer care about it, no longer care about all the confusion in my head from all the fears, shame, and self-doubt I‘ve internalized; numb that pain; it’s easier to be numb, to shut off all my emotions and pretend I don’t care about anything.  It doesn’t matter, I’ll probably get hit by a bus anyhow.  At least I’m accepted by others, even if I can’t accept myself.  I can at least tolerate myself from one day to the next. 

I find myself drawn toward music and imagery that explores the angry dark depths within.  It is safer and more cathartic than opening a vein.  And less of a mess.  And I haven’t quite succumbed to that demon yet, but it’s breathing down my neck.  I no longer bother to conceal my drawings or writings; maybe it is a subtle cry for help or to be understood?  

“Son, why are you drawing such vile things?  You used to draw such beautiful things… now it is all darkness, death, pain, and depressing drawings.  Stop drawing that stuff!  Why are you listening to that kind of music?  You’re not allowed to listen to that!  You’re not allowed to draw that!  You’re not allowed to express that!  You’re not allowed to think that!”  Yeah… because trying to control a highly creative but very confused and depressed nonconformist by dictating what they are allowed to think or how to express themselves is really going to work out well.  Hmmm… maybe if you beat him into a bloody mess that will cure the anger and resentment, make him more submissive?  And when the local cops see the bloody results and laugh about it, or a teacher tells that kid he probably deserved it, that won’t result in any further resentment or rage or lack of respect for authority, will it?  Nahhh…

“Son, why are you so full of rage and self-destructive nihilism?  Why don’t you care about anything?  Why are you on drugs?  What is wrong with you?!”

Is it really so difficult to figure out why so many highly creative people self-destruct and end up in prison?  Does our culture really value highly creative kids who have difficulty conforming with the other ninety percent?  


ABOUT THE AUTHOR. Aaron Striz is a first time writer for WITS, and he also won the most recent writing contest asking people to share what they felt was a significant factor in their incarceration. Aaron was a juvenile when he was first incarcerated and he is now in his forties – which gives him incredible insight. His ability to express that should go further than this creative writing platform, and would be beneficial in the field of social work as well as criminal justice.
Aaron Striz has also used his gifts to advocate for himself and those he lives with regarding issues such as solitary confinement. I feel it is important to note that Aaron was originally incarcerated at the age of 17, which would not be long after the experiences shared in this essay. Not long after his incarceration, he did try to escape and he has spent a great deal of his time in solitary confinement. He was sentenced to life, he won’t be eligible for parole until he has served thirty years, and although I am not familiar with his case, a quick search indicates there was no loss of life.

Aaron Striz can be contacted at:
Aaron Striz #838215
Wynne Unit
810 FM 2821
Huntsville, TX 77320

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My Downward Spiral of Compromise

I am in prison because of my downward spiral of compromise, the gradual degeneration of my character and consequent choices.  One compromise led to the next which led to the next, each one increasing the momentum of travel to and the probability of the next compromise.

My story is a tragedy, but not one of tragic beginnings.  I was tremendously blessed to have wonderful parents and the advantages of academic gifting and opportunity, yet I still ended up in prison with a life sentence.  How?  Why?

My parents were incredible – loving, caring, kind, gentle, giving and honest.  They taught and lived by their Christian beliefs of loving God and loving others.  They prioritized the needs of others, supported without being overbearing, disciplined firmly yet without harshness, provided while instilling appreciation, and emphasized character, integrity, and respect for all. 

I was academically gifted.  Teachers frequently told my parents I was the smartest child they had taught.  I won math contests and Science Olympiad events, participated in numerous opportunities reserved for top students, attended the prestigious North Carolina School of Science & Mathematics (NCSSM), and received several college academic scholarships.  

I did not nose dive from the apex of the values my parents taught down into a cesspit of selling cocaine and carrying a gun.  I descended one selfish, unprincipled choice at a time over several years.  I entered the downward spiral by compromising with alcohol and marijuana.  I drank alcohol for the first time while spending a week at the beach with a friend’s family.  We went to a condo where more than a dozen people, all older, were hanging out.  Drinking with the older crowd made me feel accepted and cool.  Although I threw up and passed out, looking like a fool, I liked being part of the ‘cool’ crowd, naive with the dangerous desire to be accepted as part of the ‘in’ crowd.

The next year, the same ‘friend’ introduced me to marijuana, or pot.  I did not want to smoke but did not have the courage to say ‘no’.  My cowardice caused me to open a proverbial Pandora’s box of drug use.  I liked being high on pot because it settled my mind, which was normally like an extreme laser light show, constantly on hyper-drive.  Pot slowed the pace, allowing me to relax and feel normal for the first time.  I eventually developed a daily habit.

My junior year began at NCSSM.  Graduating from the residence high school for academically stellar students was my dream, but I traded it for nothing. Compromising by drinking and smoking pot cost me that valuable opportunity – it would not be the last one I wasted.  Preparing to leave for college, I made another pivotal compromise, purchasing pot to sell.

For a while I could smoke pot and function well and still excel in school, even winning a math contest (Calculus) while very high.  Selling pot allowed me to smoke every day, but smoking pot that much bore a critical side effect – it stole my drive.  The exceedingly driven person with big plans, goals, and dreams, as well as the dedicated effort to accomplish them, was replaced by a distracted slacker.

As a freshman, I attended far more parties than classes, did more drinking and smoking pot than studying and learning, and added experimentation with other drugs (ecstasy, LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms).  I forfeited the academic scholarship due to terrible grades, having to attend summer classes to maintain eligibility.

I regained my academic focus and made the Dean’s List the next two semesters.  Although the frequency of partying, drinking, and using drugs decreased (mostly on weekends), continuing to use at all was complete compromise.  Two years later, I made another pivotal compromise, the terrible choice to sell cocaine.  Quickly, I became addicted to the money, and began to view myself as a drug dealer.  Adopting that identity led me to accept violence as a necessary part of the drug business.

Eight months later, my apartment was broken into and ransacked, drugs and cash stolen.  My little beagle puppy, Bruiser, was left hiding under my bed, shaking uncontrollably.  The break-in shattered my sense of security.  I hated feeling afraid, violated, helpless.  I wish I had responded by quitting the selling and using of drugs – forever.  Instead, I responded by seeking revenge.  Thinking I had determined the culprit, I organized a late-night armed robbery, however, the people we accosted were not involved in the break-in.

I thought striking out at someone, anyone, would make me feel less afraid and more in control, but the fear increased.  I started carrying a gun everywhere, even to class.  I always reentered my apartment with the gun at the ready, afraid.

Two weeks later my long, ever-worsening series of bad choices caused irreparable harm.  Killing other human beings and being arrested for murder awakened me to how far down I had descended. I had the gun because for two weeks I carried a gun everywhere, because guns and violence are part of being a drug dealer, because using drugs can easily transition into selling drugs, because one compromise leads to the next.  The overall direction of the compromises I made was steeply downward, but the incremental drop from one compromised choice to the next was so small as to be indistinguishable. 

My parents and my gifts gave me the foundation for success, but I wasted both.  The mistakes I have made are my own.  I am solely, wholly responsible for my impulsive, immoral choices.  I failed to learn from my mistakes, not only repeating them but making worse and worse choices.  Smoking marijuana took my drive, selling drugs took my direction, identifying myself as a drug dealer destroyed my boundaries.  

Now, I refuse to compromise on my values of honesty, integrity, compassion, diversity, and social responsibility.  I know it takes only one compromise to enter the downward spiral, and I will never again re-enter the downward spiral of compromise.

ABOUT THE WRITER.  Timothy Johnson placed second in our most recent writing contest.  Timothy has been incarcerated for nineteen years and is serving a life without parole sentence.  He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Pastoral Ministry with a minor in Counseling from the College at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; he serves as the assistant editor for The Nash News, the first and longest running prison publication in NC; he was editor of Ambassadors in Exile, a journal/newsletter that represents the NCFMP; he is a co-author of Beneath Our Numbers; and he has been published in the North Carolina Law Review (Hope for the Hopeless:  The Prison Resources Repurposing Act https://scholarship.law.unc.edu/nclr/vol100/iss3/2/).

Mr. Johnson can be contacted at:
Timothy Johnson #0778428
Nash Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131

Timothy Johnson can also be contacted through GettingOut.com

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AWOL

I am easily able to account for numerous contributing factors to my incarceration.  My mind and heart begrudgingly possess a bevy of reasons, explanations and excuses.  However, after further consideration, I concede they are just that… excuses; meager attempts to justify my being incarcerated, enchained and entombed.

As do many, I too find myself quickly casting blame upon the most frequently attributed afflictions – a broken and fatherless home; the lack of proper guidance and structure; a dysfunctional judicial system that levies unfair sentencing; misrepresentation by an ineffective counsel; the coercion of corrupt law enforcement; or perhaps, simply, the implication of a very ‘talkative’ acquaintance.  This list could go on, and each reason would appear quite significant in the eyes of its beholder, but truth be told, these are merely the fruit of a much more poisonous tree.  

While contemplating similar causes in my own incarceration, I discover they undoubtedly share one common root.  Although each merits its own truth, these stigma are the culmination of a far greater woe.  This generational genocide, reinforced by blind belief in errant statistical data, flawed reiterations and environmental influence while balanced on the crutches of racial prejudice is but the surface of this deeply embedded spur.

By no means am I attempting to discredit the validity of such factors, or reduce their weight in regard to anyone’s bout with this carceral beast, my own included, but there is one simple answer to this question. What do I consider the most significant factor in my incarceration?  ‘Absence’…  Yes, absence.

In my humble opinion, absence is the root cause of any and everyone’s incarceration.  No matter which surface truth we choose to blame, ultimately, there was an underlying lack that led to its burgeoning.  Whether it was the absence of a father figure, a strong support system or a void of values, there was a lack.  Maybe there was an unfair trial, insufficient legal assistance, or the ploy of discriminatory incrimination, but the fact still remains – we were without something, and the absence of that something created a vulnerability.

In an absence of awareness, we lose focus and forget all instruction and forewarning, then act with clouded judgment, in total disregard to consequence.  In an absence of direction, we are left to our own demise, inept at navigating the hostile and often imbalanced terrain of our society.  In the absence of maturation, we have become trapped in a race, running from responsibility, hoping to be rewarded with the avoidance of accountability.  And, in the absence of knowledge, we are unable to defend our rights or freedom on the battlefield of ‘law and order’, thus we are captured, sold, and enslaved.

So, you see then, regardless of how one may attempt to rationalize the cause of their incarceration, a single truth prevails – there has been an absence in our lives – an absence resulting in ignorance, an absence that has become a perpetual deviant, an absence that led to bad choices and poor decisions, an absence that has left us absent.  

ABOUT THE WRITER.   It is no surprise that Carter has placed third in our recent writing contest. He has placed here before, and he is also a co-author of Beneath Our Numbers. His writing style is always reflective, sometimes nostalgic, and completely charming. WITS really appreciates the insight that writers like Carter bring to important conversations.

If you would like to contact Carter, please reach out to me directly.

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I Should’ve Listened…

I’d end up dead or in prison,
That’s what they said.
I never listened.
Kept living the way I was living,
I should’ve listened.
Surrounded by barbed wire,
This prison is no place to be,
Handcuffs and chains weigh on me heavy.
Can’t even look at me
And remember who I used to be.
Like seasons, people change,
Close friends, my woman far gone.
Two decades worth of tears
Span the gap between me and my family,
Pent up energy bouncing off the steel,
No where to go and 
Haunted by memories,
How things used to be.
Living trapped within the torment of 
My own sins and the pain I caused,
Waiting for the day my debt is paid in full.
Then what?
Will anyone notice I’ve been gone for so long?
Supposed to pick up where I left off?
Back in a society where I didn’t fit in?
Everyone said I’d end up dead or in prison.
I kept on living the way I was living,
God knows,
I should’ve listened.

ABOUT THE WRITER. This is our first contribution by Kevin, and I’m glad he found us. WITS writers have been choosing, since we started, to pursue creative endeavors, and continue to put themselves out there. For that, I am very grateful.

Mr. O’Hagan can be contacted at:

Kevin O’Hagan #0647425
Tabor Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131

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Broken Goods

confined spaces sealing broken dreams.
i’m broken too, though it appears i’m together,
broken and severed.
too many years on prison tiers,
too many fears, can’t shed no tears,
seems tears and freedom lost their way. 
fear of not being accepted,
fear of being rejected,
fear of being neglected,
unloved and unprotected.
though I’ve changed my thinking,
don’t feel at ease.
but know somehow these things i’m instilling
will eventually stimulate me mentally,
prove this was meant for me
and just maybe i was meant to be
a voice for the voiceless,
an example of choices
that didn’t belong.
i like that i can write and recite 
the fact i did it wrong.
searching for right,
hurting sometimes at night.
hoping it will come together,
that this won’t last forever.
yeah, i’m broken and shattered,
but the thing that truly matters
is that I can climb, and I still have time
as long as someone holds the ladder.

ABOUT THE WRITER.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Michael Kent is a pleasure to work with. He opens up and shares his feelings and experiences in his poetry, and he is also enthusiastic about exploring writing. I’m hoping he will try his hand with an essay, which I think he would nail because of what I see as his willingness to share his experiences in his poetry.

Michael can be contacted via Getting Out or by writing:
Michael Kent Jr. #15215000
777 Stanton Blvd.
Ontario, OR 97914

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Quiet Night

It was an unusually quiet night, the normally blaring TV’s and radios were quiet.  The typical long-distance conversations between inmates yelling back and forth from several cells away, or the blusterous sound of someone triumphantly declaring “Checkmate!” – were not heard on this night.  On this night, some of us were preparing to say good-bye to a friend for the very last time.

Hashi was ‘making his rounds’, saying his final farewells to those that mattered to him.  It was a ritual that played out each time someone’s ‘death date’ was upon them and upon all of us, like some Shakespearean tragedy.  Thus is life on Death Row – a series of greetings and farewells.  And my turn to say good-bye was approaching faster than I wanted it to.

I could hear Hashi drawing ever closer to my cell, and I steeled myself against the emotional onslaught that was certain to come when I looked into the face of my friend – a dead man walking.  I needed to be standing when he got to my cell.  I felt it would be inappropriate and disrespectful to be sitting, but I also felt like I had a ton of bricks strapped to my back, and I struggled to rise to my feet.  As I did, my solid resolve began to melt away like ice cream on a summer day.

Within seconds, Hashi was at my cell, his hand thrust through the bars in search of mine, and in that one gesture, my resolve dissipated to nothing.  I grasped his hand with mine and reached my other arm between the bars and hugged him.  “I love you, brother,” is all I could manage.  The dam broke, and my eyes flooded with tears.  

Hashi squeezed my hand one final time and told me, “I love you too, little brother,” and walked away.  In that moment, there was a dignity and grace to him that I had never seen.  Even in what were to be his final days, he was still teaching, and I was still learning.  I sat back down feeling a little lighter and sat vigil for the next three days.

We all knew that Hashi had about 72 hours to live.  And as it is with all who are transported to the ‘death house’, we prayed for that last minute stay of execution, but God decided to say “no” this time, and at 12:07 a.m., Hashi was pronounced dead by lethal injection.

Several years later, God would say “yes” to me, and I am alive today and no longer on death row.  Now, if I could only get him to say “yes” to easing this never-ending pain and loss.

ABOUT THE WRITER.  Tony Enis does not write for WITS often, but I always look forward to hearing from him, and he never disappoints. He is also a co-author of Beneath Our Numbers: A Collaborative Memoir From Inside Mass Incarceration. Tony Enis has been incarcerated for over thirty-years, was at one point on death row, and he has always maintained his innocence. He can be contacted at:

Anthony Enis #N82931
P.O. Box 1000
Menard, IL 62259

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Entries From My Journal #6

Note: This is sixth in a series. We often see innocent individuals get out of prison after decades – but we can never fully appreciate what they go through. This is a small attempt to touch on the surface of what it is like to be innocent and on death row. How did Terry Robinson end up on death row? Two people physically connected to the crime scene accused Robinson of murder. That’s it. These entries are not edited, but shared in their original format.

January 29, 2023

[Typically, these journal entries are sent in written form. Terry called me on January 29, 2023, wanting to share something that he wrote, impacted by seeing the mother of Tyre Nichols on the news. We started recording shortly after he called.]

Entries From My Journal #1

Entries From My Journal #2

Entries From My Journal #3

Entries From My Journal #4

Entries From My Journal #5


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Terry Robinson writes under the pen name ‘Chanton’, is a member of the Board of Directors of WITS, and heads up a book club on NC’s Death Row. He is currently working on a work of fiction as well as his memoir, and he is co-author of Beneath Our Numbers: A Collaborative Memoir From Inside Mass Incarceration. He has always maintained his innocence, and WITS will continue to share his story and his case.

Terry can be contacted at:
Terry Robinson #0349019
Central Prison
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131
OR
textbehind.com

There is also a Facebook page that is not maintained by Terry, but does share all his work, Terry ‘Duck’ Robinson. Any messages left there for Terry will be forwarded to him.

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I Asked For A Friend

Conversation With Timothy Johnson

This will be the biggest favor I have asked of anyone, I realize, my head slumped and the phone receiver shaking in my hand.  My friend answers the call.  

“Are you current on the situation with my Dad?”  I ask, relief seeping through me when he responds that he is.  I do not have to say the awful words.

My Dad is dying – not dying like we are all dying, or dying with two months to live – dying in that he will be dead in a few hours.  The shocking news has hit me hard.  I am scrambling to take care of the necessaries.

“I have a huge favor to ask,” an understatement, but I cannot think of adequate words.  When my friend pledges his willingness to do anything for me, I press on.  “I want you to represent me at the funeral.  I am going to write a speech to honor my dad and want you to deliver it.”

Without hesitation, he replies, “Of course.  I’ve got you brother.”  The tears I had been holding back break through before I hang up the receiver on the wall-mounted phone.  

It isn’t until I enter my prison cell and shut the door to muffle the ever-present clamor that I allow the tears to stream.  Yet, even as I struggle to breathe, gratitude to God mingles with the suffocating grief, gratitude for a friend, a brother who loves me so much that he is willing to bear such a weight.  My thoughts travel back to the day when I prayed for a friend and God gave me a brother.

“Wake up.  You’re not going to sleep away our last few minutes together,” I told my biological brother, elbowing his arm.  “You’re going to talk to me.”  He sighed heavily and yawned but sat up, a reluctant compliance.  

In our early twenties, we had traveled many thousands of miles side-by-side, but not quite like this.  In the backseat of the family car on trips to visit family in Maryland and Florida, vacations to the Blue Ridge mountains, Disney World, and Myrtle Beach.  Then, in high school and college, one of us driving and the other riding shotgun on road trips.  So many miles, so many happy memories.

Never had we journeyed confined by shackles, bounced relentlessly by the decrepit shocks of a prison transfer bus.  Never before had the trip guaranteed our separation, maybe forever.

Arriving at the Sandy Ridge depot, we were herded off the bus into the ‘Cattle Shoot’, packed shoulder-to-shoulder with the rest of the livestock.  My brother and I were being transferred from Foothills, where we had been together for about a year, to different prisons.  With him serving thirty years and me life without parole, we wondered if this goodbye was the goodbye.

His name was called first.  We exchanged “I love you” and “Keep your head up”, hugged as best we could in shackles, and he shuffled away.  I prayed, “God, please take care of my brother.”

When my name was called, I prayed again, “God, please give me a friend where I am going,” while doing the shackles-shuffle to the next bus.  Some of the guys already knew each other.  They caught up on news of various prisons and prisoners.  I did not plan to talk to anyone – the sting of saying goodbye to my brother still too raw.

The two guys closest to me discussed the previous night’s Fiesta Bowl.  Upstart Boise St. had upset powerhouse Oklahoma in dramatic fashion.  One of the two turned to me, asking if I had watched the game.  Initially, I just stared through my fog.  His smile nudged me into a response of “yes”.  Despite my barely verbal opening, the conversation on my favorite topic, sports, drew me out of the haze.

We recapped the spectacular (now legendary) plays:  the hook-and-ladder, the statue of liberty, the running back’s proposal to his girlfriend, a cheerleader, after he scored the winning touchdown.  The sports talk replaced my lifelessness with animation.  I was a  Claymation form temporarily brought to life.  At least the conversation helped the bus ride pass, I thought..  God had more in mind.

When I thanked God for the semi-familiar face of my sports conversation partner in the next cell, God must have chuckled, knowing He had already given me abundantly, exceedingly more than I dared ask.

The confined, compact nature of the prison environment amplifies the obstacles to developing and maintaining a friendship, while simultaneously intensifying the need for a friend.  In the friendship building stage, the prison environment causes near constant contact, an abnormal closeness for the start of a friendship.  The excessive time together combined with the high-stress state of living generates numerous opportunities for friction.  Only when both parties are committed to working through the inevitable conflict does a friendship develop.

A friend is not a person without flaws but a person with whom exists a mutual contract of grace.  If friendship required flawlessness, nobody would choose to be my friend.  My new neighbor, Tommy, extended grace to me despite my caustic sarcasm and know-it-all attitude.  Instead of taking offense, he laughed, even at himself.  And he helped me laugh, a much needed soul-medicine.

Even when friendship demanded a price, Tommy embraced the imposition.  After I tore my ACL playing prison-yard gladiator basketball, he helped take care of me, getting my tray in the chow hall.  When a miscreant thought the crutches a license to be rude, Tommy bluntly informed the misguided chap otherwise.  His exact words, “His leg might be messed up, but there’s nothing wrong with my legs.  So, what do you want to do?”  Tommy, a Marine always and forever, could be rather intense.  Somewhere along the way, we became more than friends, we became brothers.

Many in prison avoid friendship because of the inevitable sudden separation.  One person moves to another unit or transfers to another prison, without any warning, without a chance to say goodbye.  That’s what happened to Tommy.  He was just gone one day, transferred to another prison, no warning, no farewell.

Keeping in contact, even by letters, violates prison rules.  As a Christian, I submit to a higher authority when a divergence emerges between the two.  I write letters of support as a ministry.  Most persons in prison have no way to navigate, or circumvent, the prohibition, but an understanding family member relayed letters between Tommy and me.  We supported and encouraged each other through those simple words and, of course, we conversed on sports, especially football.  In many letters, he expressed his commitment to always be there for me and to help provide for me after his release.

Tommy walked out of prison after fifteen years.  I had not seen him in seven years.  My parents visited him that week to help him get a few things.  They had gotten to know him well over the years. They were emotionally impressed by the way he spoke of me as his brother and of his love for me.

I have had a number of friends get out, promising to keep in contact and send pictures, order magazines, etc.  Most are never heard from again, unless and until they return to prison.  A few kept in touch, briefly, then essentially vanished.  Not my brother. 

Maintaining contact and transitioning to the role of a supporter after release begets numerous problems.  Upon release, a person is not starting from zero but from deep in the negative.  Acquiring a job, home, transportation and food, plus paying supervision fees – with a felony record – sets many up for failure.  If a person does make it through the post-release quicksand, playing catchup makes life move at warp speed.  Staying in contact and providing support increases the strain.  

Many leave prison carrying with them the trauma of that environment.  Yelling, slamming doors, quick movement, feet scuffling, or countless other triggers can activate the adrenaline rush and other fight or flight responses.  Every phone call, visit or letter with those still behind bars takes a toll.  Maintaining contact with friends left behind forces the released person to constantly confront their own trauma, a steep price.

My brother sacrificed, and continues to sacrifice, for me.  As soon as he could manage, even at a cost to himself, he put money on the phone, sent money to my canteen account, ordered books and magazines (mostly sports magazines, of course), sent photos, and relayed jokes and funny memes to cheer me up.  On his first truck, he put a NC State sticker on the passenger side, his way of letting me ride shotgun.

When I prayed for a friend, I asked for someone for a season, wanting God to supply a temporary need.  God recognized a permanent need and supplied a brother for life. Thanks to the gift of Tommy, on the day I learned my father would die in a few hours, laying on a prison bunk with tears tumbling, I whispered, “God, thank you.  I asked for a friend.  You gave me a brother.  I did not know how much I would need him, but you knew.”  

ABOUT THE WRITER.  Timothy Johnson is not only a great writer, but he also expresses through his writing who he is today and helps to illustrate personal growth. WITS is about allowing readers to find their own understanding through the written experiences of the writers, and I’m grateful to Mr. Johnson for sharing not only his loss, but also his faith. Timothy is also a co-author of Beneath Our Numbers.

Mr. Johnson can be contacted at:
Timothy Johnson #0778428
Nash Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131

Timothy Johnson can also be contacted through GettingOut.com

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A Conversation With Kwame Teague

Author, Kwame Teague, has created a productive, creative lifestyle within the parameters of prison – through pure initiative and tenacity.  He wasn’t provided writing classes and tools within his cell, but rather, took it upon himself to establish a positive and productive way of life with access to only a pen and paper.  THAT – is inspirational, and also why I wanted to talk to him.

Conversation with Kwame Teague.

While WITS is not the platform to share fiction writing, it IS the platform to share and encourage writing in all forms.  Fiction writing is equally as important as non-fiction, and in many ways can be an even greater therapy.  The book clubs WITS sponsor primarily read fiction, a much needed doorway to another life and time.

Kwame has taken fiction and run with it.  In 2021, Dutch, the movie, was released based on a series of books he authored by the same name.  While I enjoyed the movie, and felt a connection to it in more ways than one, as I grew up in New Jersey, what was even more overwhelming to experience was watching what Kwame had inspired and seen to fruition from within a prison cell.  

I don’t know Kwame’s history.  But that kind of dedication to one’s craft, focus, and determination centered on productivity – screams of being well prepared to successfully go home.  While he has been busy over the years writing, he has positioned himself as a positive role model, taking time to encourage other writers.  For that reason, I wanted to talk to him. I will share his work in our library, and I hope he keeps us posted on any future projects he is a part of.  Below is a list of links to some of his existing projects, although it is clear from our conversation, this list is far from complete.  

Dutch, the movie


Thug Politics (2009)


Dynasty, Book 1 (2009)


Dynasty, Book 2 (2013)


Dynasty, Book 3 (2014)


Dutch Confidential:  Brown Skin (2014)

TO CONTACT KWAME TEAGUE:

Kwame Teague #0401897
Nash Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131

You can also reach Kwame through textbehind.com and gettingout.com

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Where I Come From

I come from a fractured blacktop
scattered with butts, blunt guts and broken
butterfly jars.
I come from broke and broken families
where broken window theories clip wings early.
I come from No Child Left Behind and Just Say “No”
to three-for-tens and five-for-twenties,
ten-ten skinnys and one-twenty-five by fives.
I come from penny candies and two-for-a-dollar wings,
fifty-cent hugs and dollar dutches –
blocks where boys slapbox
while the girls double-dutch.
I come from humble homes where grandmothers
are saints and every kid’s got a father
they don’t know named John Doe.
I come from late nights looking for my mother
in the back-alley of a bar
peeking through the crack in the backdoor.
I come from where crack is king
where the crack of dawn brings crack
head neighbors to steal our newspaper.
I come from crockpot dinners that simmer
while our grandmother works
seven days a week with a weak
heart, gnarled hands and swollen feet.
I come from hunger –
from rumbling stomachs in the classroom
to cutting class and rumbling in the bathroom.
I come from redbrick rowhomes with glass ceilings,
smoke-stained walls and tear-stained sheets.
I come from big iced teas and big white tees,
dirty Dickies and dicked sneaks that talk while you walk.
I come from coupons and food stamps.
I come from group homes and boot camps.
I come from false prophets
who sold me money-green dreams
who never told me that God
is dead and life is hell.
I come from the otherside
where trying to survive is a waste of time – 
I come from the end of the line.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR.  Robert McCracken is a gifted poet, whose first submissions were a joy to read, and he has only gotten better over the years. I don’t know if we will hear from him again, as he will be starting a new life in the not too distant future. He has spent nearly a decade in isolation. I wish him the very best in all that he does.

Robert can be reached at:
Smart Communications/PADOC
Robert McCracken LG8344
Sci-Fayette
P.O. Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733

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