Editor’s Note: In going through an old file cabinet, I found a letter that I had used in my anti-drug shows for schools. A letter written in about 1990 by a teen who had been using drugs, got into a struggle with another teen, a gun went off — and he was in jail…serving 15 years to life. This is being published on TMV without the prisoner’s name, since it was a private poem letter to a friend. But it’s message is so powerful it’s worth preserving and indexing on the Internet. JG
15 Years to Life
As I sit here in Prison — trapped in this hell-hole,
looking at 15 years — maybe life without parole.
remembering the good times — I thought would never end,
with my loved ones, my family and especially my friends,
while in another state — I committed this crime,
and I’m here in state prison – doing my time.
No more sex — no more walks on the beach
No more pretty girls — in which to meet,
Life is so different — it’s the way you feel,
When you’re stuck inside concrete made with steel.
I’m lucky to have seen — the places I’ve been,
because I don’t know if — I’ll ever see them again.
it’s a different world — inside of this cage,
You’re surrounded with violence and filled with rage.
Death is in here it happens every day.
Out on the stretchers — they take them away.
Well I’m branded a killer — Just a number, not a name
Noted a convicted — who got caught up in the game.
I’ve never been in trouble, never been in jail,
and for a fatal mistake — I live life in this hell.
I can call you collect — and write you a letter,
but would you write me back — and make me feel better?
I’ve taken a life and I do feel remorse,
but my being in prison — is making it worse.
I don’t think it’s fair -getting so much damn time,
It’s an accident that happened — No I’m not lying.
Well so much for a marriage — a child, a wife
I’ll be here in prison. Doing 15 years to life.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.