by Curry, San Francisco We all know what having a heart means, and the dictionary defines heartless as, “displaying a complete lack of feeling, emotion, concern, or consideration.” I feel like I am a very loyal, loving, and caring person. I try my best to look out for people whenever I can. I’m the type of person to give a friend the shirt off of my back if they are in need. I am also a person who is forgiving of a lot of minor things. I often tend to try to unsee small things or not let them get to
Continue ReadingLast Night I Cried
by Elton Kelley, San Quentin State Prison, CA Seldom during my time of incarceration have I found anything of significant beauty. I understand it’s prison, after all, and beauty is not normally to be associated and certainly is not one of the prison’s design criterion. A couple of years ago I spotted some deer grazing on the hill situated on the northwest end of San Quentin Peninsula where California’s oldest prison is located. The hilltop is visible from most vantage points within the facility so nearly anyone interested can catch a peek of whatever is going on up there. On
Continue ReadingDrugs Really Messed Me Up
by Jesse Ayers, San Quentin State Prison, CA It took years for me to slowly recover. I used to be an emotional zombie, burnt the eff out! It really was (is) sad. I have been sober almost eight years now! This St. Patrick’s Day will be eight years clean! The purpose of me writing this to The Beat Within. My only purpose to my writing to The Beat Within, is to inspire someone else who might be going through the same thing. Today I understand the neuropathic process of releasing endorphins inside the brain. It’s a lot like a MSD
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Volume 27.09/10
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingEd Note 27.09/10
Greetings! Here we are in the middle of March, time is surely flying by! I certainly hope everyone out there who is reading this editorial note is doing well? We can’t thank you enough for your time and work as writers and readers of this amazing one of a kind publication, The Beat Within. One thing we are super excited about is our return to San Quentin. At this point, we are good to go to connect with our writers and friends, whom we have not seen or embraced in over 2 years, thanks to this pandemic. The loyalty and
Continue ReadingTrauma Changed Me
by Gucci “I stood 10 toes, I couldn’t fold or panic, these streets a turn a good kid into a cold lil savage.” -Polo G This quote hit me hard for real because I got a good heart. I didn’t always envision myself as this person I have become. I ain’t gone cap, trauma hit me at a young age, so it changed my thought process early in life. But I believe the younger me before all the pain and trauma would be ashamed of the man I had become. I remember being super young and telling my mom I
Continue ReadingHope
by Ish, San Francisco Hope to me is believing what you believe in and not letting what anybody else says mess up your visions, etc. Hope is important to have because it can help reach goals and can get you very far in life. Hope can also keep you on a good path in life. Hope is also believing something is reachable no matter how impossible it seems and etc. Personally, I have hope.
Continue ReadingMy Peace Is In The Mountains
by JV, Sacramento My most favorite place to go is up in the mountains, next to a lake. It’s very peaceful and not something you see every day. The environment makes you feel freer, and it puts a smile every time I’m up there. There’s a lot of trees and awesome views. When you get to the summit, the first thought would be, “wow”. You get front row seats. Sometimes, you get to see animals like deer, birds, bears, squirrels, etc. My family and friends would bring lots of food to the spot where we have a feast sometime. We
Continue ReadingMy Favorite Song is My Song
by Camron, James Ranch, Santa Clara My favorite song is the song that I made called Camron P-Dear Baby. The song that I made won’t be dropped until I get out. It will be dropped on 11/03/2022, which is my birthday. You can look for that song on SoundCloud and YouTube. But the music video won’t be dropped until 5/03/2023. Now here is the song that’s going to be dropped…(HOOK)Tell me whenAnd tell me whereI swear baby I’ll be thereTell me whenAnd tell me whereI swear baby I’ll be thereTell me whenAnd tell me whereI swear baby I’ll be thereTell
Continue ReadingLove
by Michael Mackey, San Quentin, CA Yes I’ve fallen in love, many different times, and there’s many different kinds of love and different levels of love. In a relationship love does inspire a person to do great things and even bad things as well. Love does take daily work in order for it to stay mostly good. On another note, my birthday is on Valentine’s Day, which in the past was enjoyable. I’ve had a few upsetting birthdays, a few. To me that four letter word love is something that I truthfully am towards others. I was the kid in
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