More raw, heartfelt poems, written by Thomas Porter. I am honored to be able to give him a voice in the free world. A voice for this kind, intelligent man.
Here are two more poems by Thomas Alexander Porter, two more of a series of soulful poetry which I hope will become a series of emotions, and a glimpse into a world we don’t know anything about, yet have no qualms sending men to without having even the least bit of knowledge or understanding about them.
Good Morning World
Good Morning World,
I am a part of the walking dead,
Each morning I wake up in my tomb
4 of the ugliest walls you never want to see,
The black mold gives me headaches throughout the nights
and in the mornings I strive to wash away these things,
but in my fun house mirror my reflection is that of a Zombie,
I wash my face and clean my teeth
striving to turn off the waves of depression
crashing heavily against mental walls I’ve built to Endure endlessly,
My tomb door opens
and the sounds of yelling command is how I am greeted
mask up
I listen to the stomachs of those in the lines around me,
I wonder to myself do they to feel like Zombies?
I walk through a metal detector
out of a door into the jaws of awaiting dogs
who seem to want to taste my flesh
reluctantly pulled back by the hands that hold them,
I keep walking
thinking how did I die in the relief given as Life?
When I get into the dining hall
there’s a wall with a hole in it where food is pushed out of
and It must be imaginative
because I smell decomposing aromas coming off the tray,
I open it and my Zombie brain sees just that something only Zombies could eat,
I walk back to the tomb that awaits me,
but wait, I must be waking up
because the air smells fresh in spite of what I am holding in my hands
and the Sun is felt on my skin
I slowly take steps, looking past the barbed wire and all the cages that house us
Zombies when we come outside
and I think
there’s still Beauty if my eyes can see past all the hate,
ignorance,
forms of new modern slavery
and this dude ass in front of me who is wearing his pants hanging down under his butt cheeks,
Good Morning World
Signing Off From Zombie Land
What is Pain?
What Is Pain?
Is pain the only form of Us knowing we are alive when all else isn’t felt?
Is pain the tears you let flow
in hopes that your emotional bucket would be emptied for a renewal of strength
that is somehow replaced through dried up tears and depleted energy?
Pain is not a singular entitlement
but is felt by young and old alike
Pain isn’t weaknesses leaving the body nor the judgments there of.
Pain is sometimes unseen and curses damaged beyond repairs.
Pain is worthy of everything
In my point of view given it was all I understood in my burdens and anxieties of my demise.
Pain is the bully of Love,
It’s a bitter test of some unfortunate circumstances
Pain has NO Color, No Loyalties, No Faith in our big picture.
Pain is an old friend that is forever consistent.
Pain comes in many forms,
Physically, Mentally, Emotionally, and Spiritually,
but never will we in humanity be without Pain
So we’ve Learnt to Live & Endure.
Hey Christine, it’s beautiful. Although I am not sure that is the right word to use. Because the starting point of these beautiful poems is far from it.
I have said in another comment I am not much into poems. Yet it turns out that words can touch my heart, and that is what counts, isn’t it. So I’ll rephrase that previous statement into, there are not many poems I like, but some really speak to me.
That’s progression, isn’t it? 😉
Hi Hannie,
I understand that. I don’t read a lot of poetry, but Thomas’s poems touch the heart, they really speak to me too.
Hello Christine,
Wow! What a stream of emotions from Thomas and I am glad you’d given them the opportunity to be heard. I’ve been here into prisons here in the Philippines before visiting a family who lost his ways, and I learned what they had been through in their everyday lives inside those walls. I believe everyone had a chance for redemption, and they should not be treated differently inside and outside those walls for those who choose to change their lives and found the light.
Again, thank you for sharing this with me.
Hi Semuel,
Thank you for your compassionate comment!
Hi Lila,
Thomas’s poems touched my heart deeply, and it’s obvious to see how strong he is in mind no matter how hard the situation he meets. While there is always endless despair at his place, he still tries his best to look at the bright side of life, which is quite inspiring for those people outside.
Thanks for sharing his poems with us today. And, I would love to read more from him.
Matt
Hi Matt,
His poems touch my heart too. He has endured much and his mind is strong, but how long can the mind endure? I sometimes worry about him and what he’s going through.
Thank you for your comment!
Hi Lila
His poems touch the heartstrings of what life is like in prison. Does he ever get to hear about the feedback on his poems? He writes from the heart.
Hi Yvonne,
Thomas is my pen pal, and I send him the feedback on his poems 🙂 I will tell him what you wrote.
Thanks for your comment!
What a wonderful way to get pent up feelings out for Thomas, I can’t imagine what he’s going through. I’m a big fan of poetry and I think what you are doing is commendable. Poems are words from the soul, and can really feel the emotion that Thomas is expressing. Good for him finding a way to express that.
Thank you, Andrew. I’ll let him know 🙂
Straight from the soul. These poems speak to me and make me realize that we should appreciate what we have in the free world. Life must be hard in prison. We’re all human beings and deserve to be treated with dignity.
Thank you for giving Thomas a way to share his poetry.
Hi Christine,
These poems are very, very powerful and I can actually tell they’re written by an inmate. Even if I didn’t know beforehand.
I can feel that they are poems of breaking out (not literally) and being somewhere else. I get the vibes of dreaming and what could be in the future. Even with the use of the word pain quite a lot, I still get that vibe of seeing the future.
I wish my cousin could read these, and even start writing himself.
Thank you for the inspiration and for sharing such powerful writings.
All the best,
Tom