Sometimes I Cry

Sometimes I Cry

By DJ 

I told a million lies now it’s time to tell a single truth

Sometimes I cry

It’s hard dealing with my pride

Not knowing whether to fight or flee

Sometimes I cry

Hard to maintain this image of a tough guy

When deep down inside I am terrified

If I ever told you I wasn’t scared I lied

Struggling to make it back

To society and my family

I cry

I cry for my son who I barely see

Due to these mountains

And me and his mom’s beef

I cry for my siblings who never knew their older brother

Because he stayed in the streets

I cry for my grandma who is now deceased

I cry for my life, half of which they took for me

I cry for my anger and rage

The only emotions I can show in this place

I cry for how we treat each other inside these walls

I cry for the lack of unity we have most of all

When will it end I want to know

Till then all I can do is let these tears flow

About This Poem

This poem was published in partnership with Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop, an organization based in Washington, DC. They are committed to elevating and amplifying the voices of those directly impacted by the prison system. Through creative writing, job readiness training, and violence prevention outreach, Free Minds assists members who are incarcerated or formerly incarcerated youths and adults to realize their own potential. The poet's last name is withheld on request in consideration of their privacy.

To add to this description, I think there are times we all cry. I know last week, I had a day when I just wanted to sit down and cry. There was no particular reason. Nothing bad had happened. I just felt like crying. It’s possible this was a reaction to one of my medications that can make me hyperemotional, but I think many of us have down days. If you have had days like this more often than not in the past two weeks, I urge you to seek out your doctor and let him/her know what is going on. Depression is a serious illness that can be treated.

Furthermore, sometimes we also cry for certain events in our life; we cry for our now deceased Grandmama or we cry for the pet we just lost. It may be that we miss a friend or that we feel overwhelmed. There are many reasons to cry. And do you know what the best solution is? Let yourself cry. It will make you feel so much better.

He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God. 

Aeschylus