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Joel, 31

Stories

Meet Joel…

“Being gone away from the world that I once knew for so long will make you feel forgotten.”

Joel, 31

Incarcerated: 9 years

Housed: Arkansas Dept of Corrections, Grady

Being gone away from the world I once knew for so long, will make you feel forgotten. Learning that life doesn’t stop because I got popped is something that opened my eyes to a lot about life. I got in my jam a few days before my 22nd birthday and sad to say- I’m still stuck in 2014. Being incarcerated it seems that I don’t age mentally. In my mind, I’m still that 21-year-old about to turn 22 and still childish. I like to think outside of the walls that bind me to this place. Let me tell you this place will sharpen up your imagination after so long. You sort of become your own best friend cause you can’t trust too many people. I find myself daydreaming all of the time about when I was free or about when I got my freedom back. Like today,  I daydreamed about my first love and our first encounter. How I wish sometimes I could just stay in that thought forever. I see it all as clearly as I see it today. I mean Bre is so beautiful and happy. The music that was playing was Sure Thing by Miguel. I pull up in the car with my homeboy at the time, and I see her for the first time. I remember thinking that’s my sure thing right there and she was. I was shy back then,  so I didn’t know how to approach her, so I sent one of my little guys over to tell her that I liked her and to come talk to me and she did. It was crazy how we talked to each other. I remember us being so alive. I mean she was so outgoing compared to me. I loved that and wanted her around me all of the time. She was the total opposite of me. My better half. I love you Bre wherever you are. I find this to be crazy how being incarcerated, men tend to try and bury these kinds of thoughts and emotions in fear of looking soft or even weak but not me. I welcome them proudly!

 

Dale, 56

Dale, 56

Stories

humans_dale_202308_mcphersonunit_1

Meet Dale…

My blood beats her name.

Dale, 56
Incarcerated: 17 years
Housed: McPherson Unit, Newport, Arkansas

I want to share my late son’s memory, for closure not only for me but his siblings as well, his name was Marshall.
Here is his last poem before he died in protective custody, he was also in prison, he was 32.

What makes me tick?
With my soul scraping the bottomless pit of hell prison while looking for a sign of peace, I manage to encounter an angel that oversees my future. It’s almost like a miracle sent from God. I’m facing what seems to be the most exciting part of my life: At the most damaging time of my world. My guardian angel knows my heart and intentions and wants the best for me. She knows and wants to please each and everyone of my lustful desires. I can’t stop thinking about her because without her, I’ll die spiritually, emotionally and possibly physically. The breath she exhales is the enacted air I need to be happy. She holds my heart in her hand and has the ability to crush it to pieces at any time. My mind is wrapped around her soul like a wedding ring. I pray to God she never takes it off. My blood beats her name. My life is helpless without her skin. When she looks at me my body gets hot and my hands want to touch her in the most delicate ways. Even though I’m bound, she sets me free. I promise never to leave her side. I promise never to let go of her grasp. Baby, don’t ever let go of me. You are my air and I can’t go on without you. You make me feel like a man. I won’t ever stop loving you. So will you guide me to heaven?

Christopher, 26

Stories

Meet Christopher…

We were out eating dinner with her family, when I got on one knee and asked her to marry me. We were married by a lake while on vacation, and have been married ever since and have two more kids.

Christopher, 26
Incarcerated: 2 years
Housed: East Arkansas Regional Unit, Marianna, Arkansas

How I Met My Wife

I was staying with a buddy of mine and we went to pick up a friend of his. While we are chilling and his girlfriend calls. He’s talking to her while texting another girl, and it pisses me off.  So I get on Facebook and send a message to his girlfriend and tell her the truth about what her boyfriend is doing. She asks for proof and I give it to her.  So she broke up with him. She and I stay friends and eventually go on a couple dates. I moved in with her and her daughter Carlee. We were out eating dinner with her family, when I got on one knee and asked her to marry me. We were married by a lake while on vacation, and have been married ever since and have two more kids. She was 20, I was 21 when we got married but we are not together anymore.

Wyatt, 23

Stories

Meet Wyatt…

I’ve battled with addiction and losing the most cherished person to me: my mother. What helps me get through this time is never forgetting the love and memory of my mother.

Wyatt, 23
Incarcerated: 5 years
Housed: East Arkansas Regional Unit, Marianna, Arkansas

I’ve battled with addiction and losing the most cherished person to me: my mother. What helps me get through this time is never forgetting the love and memory of my mother. One day, it led me to wake up and tell myself that I’m through living like this. I want somthing better. I quit getting high cold turkey and continue to push myself further each day. I work out constantly, all in the efforts of making my mother proud, even if she isn’t physically with me. I have almost gotten my GED, (one test away) and will finally have completed a hard-earned goal.

I still plan to achieve more each and every day, not only to become a better man, but to show my mom looking down on me, she didn’t fail in raising me. So, I don’t only write to Humans of San Quentin or to my mother; I’m sharing to anyone who’s looking for that small light at the end of the tunnel.

Kyaleah, 26

Kyaleah, 26

Stories

Meet Kyaleah…

This experience has given me an entirely renewed outlook. The pessimistic person I once was, has been destroyed a thousand times over.

Kyaleah, 26
Incarcerated: 10 years
Housed: Cummins Unit, Arkansas Department of Corrections, Grady, Arkansas

Since the age of five I’d been highly educated in lying, cheating, stealing, and violations of various degrees. As a child my mother would always tell me and my only flesh and blood brother, Jamarco, that she couldn’t save us when we went to the pen. She told me this for over sixteen years. My brother, Jamarco overdosed last year, he was 21. I’ve met many people that’ve made me want to lead a better life. I’ve met many more people that have assisted me in developing traits that have exposed me to failure. After a decade in prison, I’ve faced dilemmas that have forced me to properly communicate and redirect my intentions. Now the majority of my motives are good and instead of a lying tongue and a cursed language, I produce convincing truths. I am proficient in the language of love.

This experience has given me an entirely renewed outlook. The pessimistic person I once was, has been destroyed a thousand times over. I have to be diligently active in my disciplines for renewal to give me unrestricted access to public authority. I possess the gift of discernment, bestowed on me by the Architect of the Universe and his Council, being able to withdraw some of the most precious resources from the most horrendous embodiments on this planet and beyond. I stand as a carefully developing human being, constantly renewing. I’m not just positive actions, but an eternal work that’s never finished. I’ve learned we aren’t products of time, but producers of time and like time we should be constant in change. Being able to adapt to infinite climates, for this invites inevitable attainments. 

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