This is a piece of writing by a young woman who has spent the last two years incarcerated.

I asked her to write about a dream she has:

A dream…

I ask, what does it mean?

You want a story,

Well I’ll tell you this, I’m sorry

But its never a happy ending

Because my brain still needs mending… but.. here it goes

Once upon a time there was a girl who lived in the drug world,

She thought this was normal

Packing a gat is what they call formal

Stuck on drugs and led by violence

She was taught no compliance- be emotionless , show no mercy

Despite her life, she had a dream

Her inner child just wanted to beam

Get out of the hood and be the intelligent girl she know she could

Go to school, ditch the fools

Become a nurse, break the hoods curse

When this is all done, She was able to have fun

From this long journey of her life-

Finding that she has become a woman inside

Never regretting the bumpy ride.

- Staying strong, no more wrong…