Tag Archives: inmates

Reader: Even as meek as he tried to make himself appear, your skin would still crawl.

I remember Brent Brents. Vividly. No, I’m not one of his victims but I am one of the deputies, now former, who worked in a jail where he was held… I bought your book, a first edition, shortly after it’s release. I was profoundly impacted by Brent during the time he was in custody. He was not a large man but had a very unique presence and one that would raise the hairs on your neck. I would say I’m fairly adept at recognizing danger and comfortable defending myself, if necessary. I also had several inches on him as I stand about 5’10” and I believe he was about 5’7”, if I remember correctly. He was housed in a maximum security unit and was allowed out one hour each day to shower, exercise, or watch tv, by himself.

Even as meek as he tried to make himself appear, your skin would still crawl. There was something fundamentally broken inside of him and that intuition we all have that makes you recognize a dangerous situation would fire off regularly, even when he was locked behind a 2 inch thick metal door. Even other inmates, in maximum security, were bothered by him.

Incidentally, he was right about one thing, the other inmates did want to kill him. We had a few really bad guys in that unit during that time. There is a hierarchy in jail, as I am sure you are aware. Child molesters are on the bottom of that with rapists being one step above. Since Brents was both, and notorious, you could say his reception was not exactly warm.

-Name withheld by request

November 14, 2018

Leave a comment

Filed under reader comments

The reason i am gone is because i was hated, A life full of dope, no hope, segregated

Ok so i have a friend named Corey. Hes a real decent man. Walking the christian path. But he keeps it real. So he is a poet, no bs. And a damn good one.

So having read many of his poems, and those of other inmates. I’d like to put some on the blog. He has 2 in particular i’d like U to post Amy. They are really thought prevoking and crazy honest.

-Brent Brents

Concrete Revival.

The reason i died was because i was broken

An old vending machine that just ate my token

Could’nt sleep without pills, wake up hating life

I’d be mad at the world, my family, my wife

I took her to church but not for a wedding

We were at my funeral, the day i was dreading

The reason i am gone is because i was hated

A life full of dope, no hope, segregated

But then i woke up in a box made of concrete

Walking in circles in hell like a zombie

At first i was blind but i started to see

It was heaven not hell that filled the cell around me

How could i be happy, locked up cause of theft?

The right path was in front of me but i chose the left

I can finaly say i’m at peace and i’m sober

A catch 22, cause i wish it was over

The reason i took was so that i could give

And the reason i died was so that i could finally live.

Written by: Corey F. 2017

Leave a comment

Filed under Prison

Prison is no longer about punishment. It is a business, world wide.

These days its children who are coming through the gates. Fresh faced. some already hardened little criminals. Gang members, murderers, rapists, and drug dealers, and users. Prison is no longer about punishment. It is a business, world wide. I keep hearing this statement from Inmates.  The judge sent me here that was my punishment. Not all these stupid rules we have to follow, and do what these stooped cops tell me to do.
I won’t lie people, there are purely idiotic people on each side of the divide. Stooped barely covers the extent of their choices. There is a lot of tit for tat negativity between inmates and staff. There is hatred that permeates the air in prison. I actually sit and watch all of these things happen each day. Its senility on this grand scale. My days are pretty interesting. Don’t get me wrong, I too have my share of issues. I have serious problems with authority. I am very impatient with ignorance, and ignorant people. Especially if they know what they are doing is just plain fucked up.
Prison is what you make of it. You can make it hell for yourself, or find a way to navigate your way thru the bullshit. Seeing a fight, a sexual encounter, a drug transaction, inmates so high they nod out in chow halls and day rooms. Even here in the yard. All I can say is what a world it is in prison.

-Brent Brents 9-4-16

Leave a comment

Filed under Brents' writings

prison any where would make soap operas look tame

Gossip.

We all do it. But here in prison it is crazy. Cops do it, staff do it, Inmates do it. Kid you Not prison any where would make soap operas look tame. People die over the stoopidest shit all brought on by gossip. I try not to do it. Unsucessfully mind you. Mostly is is my anger and frustration with the Staff and inmates. Things i don’t understand and situations that get confusing or out of control.

-Brent Brents 3-10-14

Leave a comment

Filed under Brents' writings

like a cat sees the lame mouse: predatory instinct

You ever see someone at a stoplight and wonder what is their life like. I still watch people you know. Listen to their petty complaints and insults about coworkers one day and play buddy buddy with them on another. I see the ones who are insecure, uncomfortable in their own skin. The ones who genuinely fear us. Others who think this job is all about who has the power. The ones who are just here for their eight hours and some overtime if they can get it.

It’s sad to see them. Not because of who they are or even the condition of their lives. But because i still see them like a cat sees the lame mouse. It’s predatory instinct so deeply embeded in me, it makes me sick about myself. I want to do it. Not to do as i used to, but honestly i get bored and i get a kick out of reading people.

Inmates are easy and i hear them and observe their actions 24/7. But all the others I have limited enteractions with. I may catch only little thirty second snippets of conversations. But i read people, only now it’s for amuzement. Some of it is for self preservation.

Brent Brents 4-15-12

Leave a comment

Filed under Brents' writings