Original Poetry
can say thank you to him, I can tell you how much I hate
you, and hate is such a harsh word. But I do. So, hey,
I can let you go and I can say it turned out just fine.
My life I can control. I don’t need you at all. I’m building
the things I need to keep all of the negative out of my life.
Guess what? My family still loves me, even after all the
things I’ve done to hurt them with lies, stealing, hiding, and
running away from the help they offered. Their love over-
rules you, so, goodbye, Mr. Blue.
The writer is an adult learner at Gadsden Correctional Facility, Quincy,
Florida (Gadsden County), where Ms. Deon Lee is her GED Instructor.
Ready to ThriveIt seems like just yesterday I was just Verna Sealy:
Mother of six, wife, and grandmother.
I could only exist with some kind of drug in my system.
I never dealt with my life, just put it aside and numbered it.
Now I’m Verna Sealy, convicted felon,
serving ten years in prison.
This seemed to be the worst thing that ever happened to me.
Looking back at where I was in life,
living in the dark, masking all that I was,
I now see that this was the only way
I could come out of the darkness I existed in.
For the first time in my life,
I opened a Bible and met my creator.
I’m getting to know me with all my hurts and dreams.
It feels like I’ve never known myself. Finding me is a wide
ocean of unexplored territory but I’m doing it without a
drug or cover up. I’m giving forgiveness.
I never would have before. I’m understanding emotions I’ve
been running from for years. Not only do I understand these
emotions but I’m learning to cope with them
in a positive and productive way.
All this time, I was just living to survive.
Now I’m living to thrive. So when I look back
I wouldn’t change one thing because I wasn’t really living.
I was passing down my destructive ways to my children.
Now I will be able to change things for my next generation.
That to me is worth the ten years I will sacrifice.