Creative Writing

Creative Writing affords students the opportunity to give expression to their thoughts and emotions. This is of particular importance in a prison setting where freedom, including freedom of expression, is otherwise curtailed. Prison school magazines, collective anthologies and literary competitions provide an outlet for such expressive writings. In an Irish context, the Writers in Prison scheme enables teachers to invite published writers into their Education Centres. The writer might perform a reading of his or her work, hold a workshop or engage in drama work. This poetry page provides a further opportunity for prisoner writings to reach a wider audience.

A number of stories by students attending basic English classes have been produced as booklets and used as literacy readers.

Poems

INTO THE FRAY

Another day escapes
from beneath the sheet of night,
into my bedroom slowly creeps
its waking shafts of light,
the silence slowly broken
by the closing of a gate,
that separates my waking time
from my subconscious dreaming state.

Another morning beckons
its promise I'll explore,
the morning light a doorframe
that surrounds the open door,
to endless possibilities
of happenings and chance,
and passing o'er the saddle
into enchanting life I dance.

F, Arbour Hill

UNTITLED

Love leaves,
Autumn damp spirit,
Dying, eddying in the breeze,
Careless as a winter storm.
Stricken,
As by lightening.
Cold and empty,
As the space between the stars.
More distant than infinity,
More cruel than a child’s grave.
Mercilessly triumphant,
As a desert sun.
Deadlier,
Than the grim reapers scythe,
A lovers scorn.

PM, Arbour Hill

GESCHREVEN (Dutch Language)

Schrijf in zand degene die je pijn doen.
Vergeet ze zonder pijn.
Want wat geschreven staat in zand
zal morgen verdwenen zijn.

Schrijf in steen wat je ontvangt
aan plezier, vriendschap en geluk.
Want na vele jaren later
geeft steenje de herinneringen terug.

Schrijf in je hart iedereen waar je van houd
dichtbij of heel ver bij je vandaan.
Want wat geschreven staat in je hart
zal voor altijd bij je staan.

WRITINGS (English Translation)

Write in sand those who hurt you.
Forget them without pain.
Because what written is in sand
will be gone tomorrow.

Write in stone what you received
of joy, friendship and luck.
After many years the stone
will still give you the memories back.

Write in your heart all who you love
close by or very far away.
Because what is written in your heart
will be with you forever.

RS, Wheatfield Prison

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