“We, the Unbound”

by Peggy Rambach Address for the HOC Mural Project Unveiling Celebration with MIT at the Suffolk County House of Correction Feb. 15, 2019 Lately, we’ve all been hearing a lot about walls – whether we like it or not. And as a result, we can’t help thinking about what a wall represents: division, protection, confinement …

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Kindness as Hostage

by Treacy Ziegler  (This is the second installment on kindness in prison.  The first installment can be read at Incarceration of Kindness.) On my first trip to the super-maximum security prison, I see a high stonewall building perched over distant trees. There is something surreal in the sight of this fortress-like building with its small …

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As the End Comes (a tribute to Alice Walker)

by Mardie Swartz Mardie Swartz has spent 29 years behind bars in Texas. This poem is about the time approaching when she will finally be beyond bars. I remember beginnings – The first time I was molested Sold, abandoned, raped The first drink, snort, shot of Whatever would numb some of the pain. The first …

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