Finding Meaning and Healing Through Writing at the Marana Facility
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Finding Meaning and Healing Through Writing at the Marana Facility

Incarcerated men and women find answers to their struggles through a variety of programs and activities. Some find answers through small-group counseling sessions, others express their feelings through music, and some find healing through writing.

The Arizona State Prison-Marana offers a writing class taught by volunteer Jon Sebba. The group recently put together a booklet titled Minds and Space. The short stories, poems, and other writing reflect the challenges and hopes of some of the men at the facility.

Here are just a few of the writings:

 

 

 

 

 

I AM by Alex Erivez

I am Alex

Son of John D.
Who needs Life Vitality Existence
Who loves my two sons, Jesse and Ryan
Who sees all but sees no one
Who hates my past and the life I lived
Who fears my addictions and the places I’ve been

Who dreams of having my own home

With my two boys living the life I never knew
Who has found a new way in a life a higher power, greater than me
He’s helping me find myself in every way
I call God who helps me through my day in every way

resident of LA CA

I am Erivez

Acrostic Poems by Kevin Sisk

P eople of such diversity
R unning around trying to fit in
I ncarcerated by their crimes
S omewhere in that mix is me

O rphaned by society as a whole
N ow I emerge a new man

Appreciation by Hank Lowe

It is shameful, how we tend
To take for granted those
Who love us most and
On some level, may even resent

Their boundless devotion— Before they are gone.

I wish I had been able
To usurp the self-centered child
To fully appreciate her
Habitual offerings of
Encouragement and kindness—
Before she was gone.
I pray I can change
That I learn from my failings Becoming more like her…
And may those whom I love
Have no doubt it is so— Before I am gone.

We exist in the mere moment
A mercurial dew drop poised
On the petal of time, shimmering
In the twilight of infinite suns,
Hoping we might value its splendor— Before it is gone.

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