Category: Piece of the Week

by Ounce of Game I come from a very cultural Polynesian family.  Our values are the second to third things individuals in my family cherish and or respect.  For me, this also applies, however, I perceive the point of view differently.  I try my best to abide by the rules.  I was taught, but as you can see, I’ve tripped up. I’m Tongan, Samoan, Japanese and Chinese.  I grew up in various places such as San Francisco, San Mateo, Los Angeles and San Jose.  I mostly have memories in San Mateo, on the east side, in a part called Shoreview.  My

by Cassie Hey Dad, Thanks for abandoning me, basically when I was little. Thanks for making my mom and me resent you and become jaded when anyone wants to come into our lives. You shattered me at young age, as well as my image of what a man should be. I know you have your own issues, but I’ve always wanted to know why you couldn’t get stuff together, and step up for us and be my father? I guess you being a dead beat was a blessing in disguise, because my grandpa is the better father you could have never

by Revo My predicament has been helping me out positively. Despite my situation being negative, at this moment I’m in the process of learning patience, discipline and self-control. My ongoing incarceration has been assisting me shape the better, stronger me that I have been running away from for so long. Honestly I’m grateful for the adversities I’m facing because without them I wouldn’t be the same person I am right now. While in captivity I never obsess over time. It is a form of self-torture. I use my memories of the past and relive them in my mind. I stretch

by T-Baby I can honestly say I wasted eighteen years of my life, each day chasing something; answers, love, a high, money, acceptance. I spent eighteen years acting out and making mistakes because I thought someone would save me. I realize now, though. I can’t keep making mistakes based off the choices people made before I was born or because people thought life was boring and wanted more than just a family. I wish life was laid out in front of me but it’s not and never will be. I don’t know where the days went. Time keeps speeding up

by Rajene Thick brown skin with battle scars everywhere, a glance around my face expressing a deep depression and overcoming of sin. I see three tattoos that express the love for the people symbolized amongst each of them. I see coarse hair, which I was born with and struggled with while going through different stages of depression. I remember my different hairstyles as I think of myself, and cry knowing that my hair did not deserve this point of roughness. That’s just the outside appearance of the mirror for the bigger image is withheld inside of my soul, heart and mind.

by Bre’Ann I’m an emotional wreck. Crying is my only good coping skill, not having a mother to cry on or a father I can run to. My sister is gone with the wind. My brother is gone with my freedom. As I stare at my public place of punishment, punishment is my only hope for freedom. Being a highly sophisticated, intelligent, emotionally mature, lonely, and ripped up failure. I see what I have become and it’s not exactly helping my emotions. My mother went to a better place when I was 12 and I got separated from my lovely

by Chance I as a person have a lot of concerns. I will talk about a couple of them, but keep in mind they are just concerns, not beliefs. I feel like a failure. My anger has removed myself and my family from home to home since I was young, but I fought it and conquered it. But when one big problem goes another takes its place. Drug addiction; right now it feels unbeatable. Every ber of me wants them to make me happy, to nd a purpose. It takes me and wraps its warm arms around me. Now that

by Andrew There isn’t much that I can do when I’m locked up. The system is messed up so if they want to point their ngers at you it’s because they got no one else to blame. We come to realize the things that really matter in life because of all the time we got on our hands, we don’t realize it when we’re out on those streets because of all the mind games people play on us youngsters. And there are all kinds of other distractions just by trying to survive the life we gangbangers choose to take. It’s just

by Brianna Instead of confronting my fears of sadness and agony, I tend to run away from them. Most of the time, well the in-between time, I can escape it. Though when I get tired of all the running, I sit back and watch it catch up to me. So I can never say I didn’t see something coming. The escape is always temporary. My form of running is altering my state of mind with drugs to force myself not to have to face all realities of the world and to lift the burden that weighs so heavily on me.