I started writing poetry and have embraced the art of the spoken word.
This has taken on its own life form here at Camp Cumberland and is now
a well attended weekly class that I co-lead with my friend. It is a judgement
free zone, an outlet for those who attend to share something that inspires them,
original or otherwise.
I like to focus on the positive and here is the first one (of many) that I penned.
It’s called “Cumberland”
A country club setting that resembles a school.
There’s pickleball, basketball, you can even play pool.
No bars or confinement, free movement for all.
The classrooms and library resemble a mall.
We sleep in the dorms that are cooled by AC.
Set in the mountains, what I sight to see!
Friendships are formed, nothing more to say.
The food is nutritious, 3 meals a day.
But something is missing, something’s not right.
Is it us doing time, or those out of sight?
This next one I wrote about an elderly inmate named Chuck.
Chuck just sits on a courtyard bench, day after day. He can’t read very well
and has many health issues. There must be a better alternative for him than
incarceration. He is harmless. It is entitled “The Gate Keeper”
A long white beard shows his wisdom and grace.
Life’s hard knocks, the lines on his face.
He sits and he ponders the sum of his life,
Day after day like a man with his wife.
What he thinks and feels no one will know.
His mannerisms graceful, his walk somewhat slow.
The stories he tells bring a chill to your spine.
His soft spoken way is no less than Devine.
I look at this man who is down on his luck,
and in so many ways, we are all just like Chuck.
