get a copy of his manuscript for $5 plus $1.50 shipping, contact webmaster, danielgriswold@hotmail.com

 

Western skies all afire

And the sun glows orange

Upon a journey now embark

Shadows of night cover day light.

As the stars appear in

illuminous spark.

Visions matured drift before

my eyes, dreams of you and

I that have survived.

Light of day tests our dream,

Dark of night confirms unseen.

 

-Mike Jones

M.C.I. - Norfolk

 

age: 30

height: 5'10" weight: 170 lbs

crime: Murder

Currently:  Married, Children, on Parole, etc.

 

writings:  "Western Skies"

              "My Will is Strong"

              "Disneyland East"

 

The sun is shinging brightly on the football field as the offense lines up.  Down, set yells the young athletic built man and ten men assume football positions and stances.  He is the leader, the quarterback commanding the team.  Hut one, hut two...hut....the ball is snapped and he rolls out briskly and throws a perfect spiraling pass downfield to a streaking receiver for a touchdown.

And as the receiver spikes the ball in the end zone one realizes this isn't a college football team or a pro team at practice but a prison team.  For at the endzone stands a 15 foot chain link fence topped with barbed wire and behind it a no-mans land of 30 feet and finally a 20 foot concrete wall topped with an electric fence.  No-mans land is where the gun towers take aim at would-be escaping prisoners.

The blonde young man leading this football team is in prison for murder.  he has hopes and dreams and always seems to be confidend he will be released some day to start life over.  This young man was just a teenager when life took a turn for the worse.  At a party attended by a rough crowd of bikers, Micheal and his girl found themselvesin over their heads.  When a couple of rough older druggy types grabbed Mike's girl, he was in another room getting buzzed.  Her muffled scream alerted him and he was confronted with a violent situation.  Right or wrong he reacted adn as violence often does, the escalation resulted in the stabbing death of another man.  Micheal was subsequently arrested, convicted, and sentanced to second degree life, for murder, in State Prison.

Mike's dreams and visions and sadly his frustrations are evident in his poetry written during his prison term.  "Disneyland East" or so Mike calls the penitentiary, is no amusement park when you are behind bars.

 

Disneyland East

 

The Amusement Park is closed today

because of rain.

 

And within the house of horror

The performers go slowly insane.

 

The keeper is furious and demands

the rain to cease

For the show must go on...

at Disneyland East.

 

M.C.I. Norfolk

 

Clip taken from the unpublished work "Reflections" compiled by Mike Sampson of Florida.

by dan

 

Roads and things like the comfort of downtown.

Buildings hug themselves as tingly rafters hang

over movement of awkward rat like cars and

rotweiler trucks deal with fertile snow that

falls to renew the horrific dusty railways and

homeless.  The reeling crowds shop along the

streets, or at least they did thirty years ago.

Now you might see the lovely bikers along the

Perkey Cafe and the drug and senile line up

in friendship by the China Express where

young cats aren't allowed to play.  Downtwon

is loud but rhythmic as clocks visually prompt

passerbys that their appointment was two minutes

ago.  Schreeches from late cars peel along the ears

of the streetband that sings some Metallica, some

Ray Charles...Then the music shop lets out a

tune of gasping guitars to remind the fire dept.

to chine the hollow blow horn, that the end

of the day has come.

-dan