When they see me, I know it’s not me they’re seeing. They can’t get past the record. I’m invisible. I’m just a picture, I’m just a mugshot. They can’t see that love changed me.
I discovered this poem in prison and it has impacted me nearly every day since. At first I thought it was about how we’re just a bunch of miserable slugs on planet earth, what are we even doing here? But then…something flipped.
It drew my attention because it was about the stars in the sky. There were only two things that I missed while in the joint: human touch and the stars.
It’s written by W.H. Auden. Do you want to hear it?
Love and poetry saved me.
I have heart. If you hire me, I have something to prove. I have a lot to prove to you, to my family, to my friends, to the world. You’re not going to miss a staple, a paper clip, a pen–because I have something to prove.