This Empty Cage

“There is something in this empty cage that never gets released,” says Iranian writer Garous Abdolmalekian in his poem Long Exposure. The United States has the highest prison population and incarceration rate per capita in the world. These systems perpetuate harm both during active sentences and even after release. Despite this, writers and creatives have found ways to build community, whether compiling their works in hopes that their stories can eventually be told, or continuing their writings later in life. 

After creating The Exchange, The Weekly began receiving letters from incarcerated poets in response to our prompts. When looking at mass incarceration from afar, it seems like such a large issue to tackle. But publishing the work of incarcerated poets’ can bring freedom to their voices, regardless of where they are physically. 

This section of The Exchange features the writings of currently or formerly incarcerated writers.