Prison journalism: Free Mind Jeffrey Shockley is a writer serving a life sentence in the State Correctional Institution-Fayette in Pennsylvania.
by Jeffrey Shockley
21-09-2023 12:31
in Prison Journalism
Jeffrey Shockley is a writer serving a life sentence in the State Correctional Institution-Fayette in Pennsylvania. Read Jeffrey's poem Free Mind Image: Unsplash
Is it possible to excel beyond the confines we have found ourselves in?
Your life is a promise of adventure which you alone can fulfill
Can we rise above the stuff we may have fallen prey to?
Through situational conditioning resembling everything the news views,
As distorted thinking while inking just another name lost,
Across the headlines more people fearing to see?
Other people can believe in you, but ultimately,
You must believe in yourself
How many years must it take on before we awake on,
The other side of of thinking negatively?
Others can make suggestions,
But you must make the commitment,
About your own actions that create distractions Too ashamed to face
Others can encourage and support you,
But you must take Your own steps forward.
If I close my eyes and free my mind,
Will the disguises hide that fear of uncertainty,
Evident by the back and forth
Into this hell I have placed myself in,
A time or two more occasions than judges love to see?
Only in making proper choices, and taking risks,
For yourself will you know the rewards,
of giving shape to your own life
And making your own dreams come true.
The hardened criminal tag now placed upon me,
Now some say I will never again be free, but freedom comes,
For some in this time behind the bars and scars,
Discarded by precision decisions and elections of mind,
To be the best today That We have always been able to be,
If it were possible to see, believe beyond
The yesterday that had some bound down to the underground
Of self-doubt without a hope for any thing
Better than the failure no one hopes to become.
Still,
We desire to aspire to prove others wrong,
In their strong opinions of where We will never be,
All that we will never be
I choose to no longer allow others,
Or them to have such a hold on me,
And set myself free to exist in this,
A Free Mind combined with knowing That I know,
That I know My God loves me just as I am.,
It is He who made me and He alone,
Gave me the ability to be Free in Him
Mind, Body and Soul.
--
ALSO READ: Prison journalism: Life behind bars: Tale of resilience and unexpected bonds
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ALSO READ: Prison journalism: A journey of redemption: from prison to renewal
ALSO READ: Prison journalism: How a pen helped me escape prison
The article was facilitated by Erin Parish from the Human Kindness Foundation (HKF).
The Human Kindness Foundation's mission is to encourage more kindness in the world beginning with people in our prisons and jails.
--
HKF has published several books including: We're All Doing Time, Lineage and Other Stories, Deep and Simple, and Just Another Spiritual Book and provide these books for free to people currently serving time in prisons or jails.
Do you have any question you would like to ask our prison journalists, WhatsApp us on 060 011 0211
Do you have contact with a prison inmate who would like to write for The South African website?
--
If so, send an email to info@thesouthafrican.com or a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211
You can also follow @TheSAnews on Twitter and The South African on Facebook to get the latest prisoner journalism articl
Is jy Afrikaans? Kliek hier vir nuus in jou taal!
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Prison journalism: Free Mind Jeffrey Shockley is a writer serving a life sentence in the State Correctional Institution-Fayette in Pennsylvania. 
