Artwork

Artwork

WRITING EXCHANGE 2006 to 2024

This blog was created to recognize some of the powerful writing being produced by incarcerated youth. Currently, writing is being shared between Sacramento, Shasta, and Butte County Juvenile Halls.

2024-2025 Exchanges: Sept 25, Oct 30, Nov 27, Dec 18, Jan 29, Feb 26, March 26, April 30, May 28


Entry #1867
Inception
James, running away from something evil, hits a wall. He tries to climb it. Scraping his fingers against the cold red bricks, desperate to escape. He looks up for help and sees a bird flying in the air. The evil gets him and he wakes in a bird's nest. Compared to his bed it was a bit scratchy. He learns to love worms.

Entry #1868
CPAP Machine 
Whoa, I was soaring through the air when suddenly I looked down and realized I was on a huge dragon. I grabbed the reins and tried to get it to turn around but it kept going. The sky turned into outer space and I could hear an engine running. That’s when I pushed my girl to stop the snoring.

Entry #1869
The Big Loss 
Jose has been sad from the loss. Losing his grandma got him in a very deep depression. Emotionally stuck, he wanted to know how he could possibly feel her presence again.  He went through a lot of pain trying to find a way to bring her back to his reality, even if just once more. Sleep was the answer.

Entry #1870
A SERENDIPITOUS EFFECT
Serendipity attended school regularly, and was rarely absent or tardy to class. On Friday, she was the only one in her homeroom … She decided that when her teacher came in to attend to her and her classmates, she would pretend to be missing as well. Mr. James Harrison entered the classroom to find three students and a dog.

Entry #1871
Salads of DEATH
There on a dark stormy storm, was a bowl without enough dressing, no ranch could possibly quench thy dryness on thine leaves. Nooooo tomatoes! Just pain. LETTUCE cause strain. Pulls me through the storm drain. Cesar, Italian, SWISS CHEESE! MOZZARELLA!! CATALINA! Some croutons with nooooooo futons. Protons, no electrons. The children of the bowl drop dead to become whole!

Entry #1872
Soaring
As I soar through the air on my bike I start to wonder how I’m going to land. If I land on my face it’ll hurt. If I land on my tires I’m good, but as I hesitate through the air I plummet down to the earth like a heat seeking missile about to hit globe with great destruction…

Entry #1873
The Wrong House 
Banjo, the mean bully, skips confidently into another neighborhood. He chooses to search for something to bully and decides to go around a house into the backyard for some massive destruction. He smiles as he sees it is a small home without any doors. But the growl was big from inside. He quickly decides to run. The growl grows.

Entry #1874
Voices
He sat in a dark closed-curtain room. Watching the smoke swirl and drift away before his own eyes. He hears a group of voices in his head. He hears them in the radio and his TV. Shadow people walking behind the walls. The voices are getting the best of him. It’s only him and the voices all day.

Entry #1875
Not Everything Is What It Seems
Two homeless boys, starving, walking down the street, stumbling, not because they’re drunk or high, but because they are light headed from not eating and lack of sleep. They enter into Safeway and steal food and a bottle of alcohol, not to get drunk for say, but to stay warm while the cold winds rip them apart…LIFE. 

Entry #1876
NIGHTBIRDS
One night, I sat on the porch of my quaint and subtle cottage in the woods, watching the sun as it set away. The trees were swaying gently in the wind. I could hear the beautiful melodious sounds of nightbirds’ songs resonating in the distance, vibrating together in a beautiful harmony… Everything to my attention was beautiful and perfect…

Entry #1877
Schizophrenia
50 people breaking in through my window trying to kill me. Running around the house with a big knife. I see dead people in my couch and walls. The plants and furniture become alive and start walking. The voices and shadow people seem so true. Crawling through the carpet trying to get away. Thinking how will I get out?

Entry #1878
Chillin
Pedro and Sammy were chillin. Suddenly, A loud thump from outside startled them. Pedro and Sammy decided to go check out the noise. They slowly crept around the backyard looking for anything strange. Nothing. Quickly, Pedro began talking to himself in a frightening tone and chased Sammy. As Sammy begged him to stop, Pedro dropped, Ha-ha, Gotcha!” he teased.  

Entry #1879
SPELLING…BE!?
I remember, like it was yesterday… The Riversville spelling bee. I was there to test my wits and rise up above any challenge that was imminent, and to exceed in any and/or every way possible. The last and final word that they had required for me to compose out of my bare knowledge of the English Language…
“E-M-I-S-S-A-R-Y”

Entry #1880
Sticks and Stones
I'm climbing the mountain, but keep falling down cutting my hands and knees. Out of breath, hurting, wanting to give up. Climbing and bleeding, I press on. I close my eyes as sand blows by and I fall. When I open my eyes I'm on the other side of the mountain. I have accomplished my goal and surpassed it.


Entry #1881
The Good Gone Things
Being woke up in the early morning and told to get ready for school.  An omelet on the counter.  Walking into the house and smelling Grandma’s perfume. The conversations they would have. The laughs shared together. Her presence and hugs whenever they were needed. The nighttime talks before bed about how he could better himself. The family trips.  Gone. 

Entry #1882
Life's Bad & Good Colors
Tae lost his colors, his meaning of life left him. But a little of him wasn't ready to give up seeing more colors. Life he only saw as his bully. And one of those bullies put him in a sad room of only plain colors. The sad room made him miss colors. And soon his bullies became his friends. 

Entry #1883
Helping Our My Buddies
Snakes in the pathway invisible in tall grass. Walking through the field to feed the hissors. They stand up on two legs and arms stretched, ready to bite the hand that feeds them. Bob tries to help his friends be successful. Snakes curl up and jump at his body. Without fear he reaches out, "sssss" and gets bit "ahhhh!"       

Entry #1884
The Brave Three Headed Beast Dead Forever
I was in the garden and I heard Billy yelling in the distance, "Hey, John are you coming".  
I was still very disoriented from the explosion. I yelled back "Yeah, be there in a sec."
Running through the rain, I caught up to Billy. I took the sword, raised it high and finished off the beast forever.

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