American Dream
What is this American dream when coming out of prison?
Past decisions made; we’ve paid the price, yet others abhor our existence even more. What are the challenges through the changes we’ve made, staying sucker-free? Striving to be better today than in the yesterdays we didn’t appreciate, respect, or fully understand, as we struggled to grasp who we were meant to be—while wrestling with trauma-induced fear that continues to cost so many innocent lives.
What is this American dream when coming out of prison? Decisions of denial linger long after any trial, while years have amassed glass ceilings in a concrete block of hopelessness we’ve overcome—with maturity, family reconnection, and support to communities we once harmed. All for the elusive quick hit, needle stick, or alcoholic drink we now know we neither want nor desire. Never again.
What is this American dream when coming out of prison? A re-creation of who we once were, out of fear of who we might have been—should have been—but for the mishaps of distorted minds, dysfunctional families, and absent fathers. Cycles of pain, embedded in a society that rejected us even when we tried to overcome the damage done by the only person we can blame today: ourselves.
What is this American dream when coming out of prison? It’s the resolve behind the tears we shed behind these cold steel doors. For some, more times than we’d like to admit. Yet we honor the life we have made—a freer life than we once knew—learning to pursue our own determination to be men and women who, with open eyes, refuse to be disguised by the lies we tried to deny when everyone else knew the truth.
What is this American dream when coming out of prison? Living a life of hope, even while in prison.
