The List
The thing about returning to prison is that it doesn't change. It was all as I remembered it . . .
Latest
About Five to Twenty
In 2011 the author was sentenced to twelve years in federal prison for downloading child pornography. He was released in 2021 and now resides in Texas. For more than a decade he has written extensively about his experiences as a defendant, prisoner, and as an ex-felon and registered sex offender reentering society.
Recent
Pink Socks
The first thing one notices is the chair. Comprised entirely of straight lines with minimal upholstery, it's a chair designed for utility rather than comfort. On the seat is a device like a small heating pad on which I'm asked to sit and, in the polygrapher's words, "take it easy," though neither of us believes…
The Problem List
Clark smiled broadly, which was unusual for Clark. Prone to anxiety and depression, he often sat through our weekly sex offender treatment sessions wearing an exhausted, dour expression, as though his life were coming to an end and he'd sooner sleep through the last dreadful bits. But today he smiled—it was a rather handsome smile—and…
Edgar
A flicker in the bottom corner of my eye, too quick to identify but slow enough to determine speed and direction. It's source: the dried goods shelf where oyster and hoisin sauce cans are stacked in rows; it's destination: the small, irregular hole at the baseboard behind the stove. Unperturbed, I continued sliding blocks of…
Essays from Prison
Smashed
I was in the library reviewing job applications for the upcoming mock job fair when Old Man Landry got smashed. Every year, volunteer business professionals are invited into the prison to help prepare soon-to-be-released inmates to enter the workforce. At the center of the fair is the practice job interview in which inmates—many of whom…
Turbine Cowboy
An ice storm bowled through the Permian Basin earlier this month downing telephone lines in nearby Midland, stranding motorists along I-20, and temporarily disabling the perimeter motion sensors here at the prison. We spent the better part of three days shuttered in our dorms sleeping, shooting spades, speculating on the weather, placing desperate phone calls…
Getting to Know You
Shortly after moving in, my new cellmate suggested we play a game. Every day, we agreed to share one interesting thing about ourselves to get to know each other. Round one: Bo tells me about the cat he had growing up named Mr. Bill, and I tell him about my cat, Polpette (POO-pet), Italian for…