Women of Wisdom Writing by the Women’s Book Club at Hazelton Appalachian Prison Book Project, PO Box 601, Morgantown, WV 26507 https://aprisonbookproject.wordpress.com/ © 2017 Appalachian Prison Book Project All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact: [email protected] Cover Art by Celeste, Tanisha, and Angela 1 Your teachers Are all around you All that you erceie, All that you experience, All that is gien to you or taken rom you, All that you loe or hate, nee or ear Will teach you— If you ill learn. Your teachers Are all around you All that you erceie, All that you experience, All that is gien to you or taken rom you, All that you loe or hate, nee or ear Will teach you— If you ill learn. -Lauren lamina ctaia Butler, Parable of the Sower 2 About the Women of Wisdom (WoW) The Wome of Wisdom ook lu meets very the eek, year-roun insi the cure emal Facility at azelton orrectiona enter, edera rison Bruceton ills, West irginia. For over three ears, incarcerated wome nd ew olunteers rom he nglish epartment t est irginia University have bee athering n ircle to iscuss s nd ork riting projects. I wonderful nd haotic brainstorming rocess hat ulminates i ote, e decide hat books read Our rst election n tober 2014 was Octavia Butler’s novel Kindred. It emains ouchstone for our conversations. This is WoW’s first collection of writing. We are delighted to include the work urrent ook lu members s ell s orme embers ho re now released. e are grateful the omen West irginia niversity Enrichment und or upporting his ollection and the ppalachia rison ook roject or obilizing his ynamic learning ommunity. Katie ogelpohl Beth aley t Ryan WoW B LUB Words come together orm he pages of his book. One, two, three, I think I’m gettin ooked. With my book light in hand, I’m hiding in the nook. Began, just a little leery of this group that’s set apart. Open hearts & pen inds eceived me from the start. Ostrich-like behavior ccepted or he aint of heart. Kindling he inner ifts hat ake u art. Conversing hat e read or hat e hought. Listening and learning…skills that can’t be bought. Understanding ourselves deeper…lessons that can’t be taught. Believing in oneself… I hope that’s the lesson caught. Tani 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Carletta The louds lavery Pain Disappearing of the un Choices rowing p at Jessica When I ound Out Celeste ow I Breathe Three Untitled Works of rt “Life Shrinks or expands with our courage” Rain Fire Burns Soul Satisfaction The onsumer ost Soul Rosalind Dear randmother Who am I The irror to y World What Helps ou Breathe If I n mpty oom Why I Write Leslie A licker of ight Transition J. omething to Think bout From the Inside False ssumptions unning in the Rain Melissa Woman Survivor 4 Trilla Nae aling Crystal Why do we care Panes Jaye The Truth Is M Soulate I Cry… Tanisha My oice ean ug Breathe Lock own I eed a rink ntitled ork of rt Shay What eps e Breathe hy Poe for M Dadd Gone But I’m Here xcerpt fro ntitled oe Daphne ntitled Ausia ust reathe A Letter to My other My Truth Kirsten This Time Contributor Biographies Updates From WoW Book Club Alumni WoW Reading List, 2014 - Present 5 The Clouds y Crett you eer ook nto te sky as you stre n te ouds tey re ee nto your mn you tre at tem unt you are remove rom te or your oy ein to ret on ech uff you rex s you ee te omort uner your oy your oy move ck an ort as if you re retn on ve you omare te eeng to te day you beame save, your oy e t te ove o our ter you ne tout a oubt you ere safe whe on that oud you kne or fat you n plae on tis mountn te clouds tke you way into a place where you aren’t trete s stray nto e o urty an pee a te pan n uern t one eese at est for as on s you ree on tat ou you can live on t unt rety t agan oud unt life hakes ck nto e, an ron ein to ee roun te orner pickn u te pae agn you run ck to te ouds, runnn to ecae te ron soun 6 Slavery y arletta I thin o lavery ein more than a lac Annie I thin o lavery ein more than ermin woun I thin o lavery as ein more than a protitute makin a ollar, I thin of slaery being lie a lost chil in a ungeon, or a little boy with a chet box with no toy It’s not just about color because now all races make a slavery noise In prison we slave or 0 cents an hour No matter the color, we all use the same hower, No matter the race, we all hae the ae power Powerle lie a bie tilting on a roc, r a woman walking in the rain with heels ut no ocs Ye our Arican American suffere or year, till ecae later the suffering i till near Instead of African Americans, it’s all, White Meicans, atinos, Blacs in the prion yste WE ll all Fall powerle an why Cause unlike the “slaves” they stood by too with prie een when they were surrounde by weapons ome ay they should have stoo up ut I ive them my leins In the end, Justice was served like that bike that didn’t fall over, Or that chest that didn’t hold a toy Een though it looe lie eath was at the door, A way out creae eore they hit the Floor There is alway a way of ecape and nothing eer looks a it is, When you ee me now that I am eeper than appear When you open the box, know it’s full, And that child you ee will ee the light oon 7 Pain by Carletta Pain can kill you or build you, Pain can tear you apart or put you together Pain can make you round Pain can slim you down Pain can take a turn for good, it even can make you more understood Your pain can heal her pain, er pain can chane his name is pain can open her eyes, er eyes can read his cries er pain can turn into shame, er shame can cause his pain is pain can turn into his lory, er pain can tell a painful story While his pain is heard by many, er pain is read by plenty God is in the midst of their pain, Usin it to heal many people in hame Buildin him and her up by their story, Now her pain and his pain Is called Glory er pain built her up, is pain put him on top God’s goal was to make their pain stop, Make their pain a living crop It bloomed into something special, ow look at them you can tell They’re both God’s vessel 8 Disappearing of the Sun b arletta ometimes we have to hit rok bottom to rise, ometimes we have to suffer to win the prize ometimes we walk in our aith blind, We look straight because we know God’s behind. Even thogh at one point we were bold, We sreamed we will sin ’til we old tealing, Robbing, ighting, orniating, and much more, We did it boldly ’til that day God ome knoking on or ilth door. Took a prison bid or most o us to see, Can yo say lodly that God helped yo and me elped hange attitudes Turned o into prity again and turned You rom alwas being nude Made ou never wanna ommit a rime, I think we an say thanks God or sitting me on my behind Thanks or the threshold My old lie has been sold My new life has begun, Now don’t have to hide out ntil the disappearing o the sun 9 Choices b arletta Can you look through the tears of a an, can ou see what lies behind the tears of a woan Rae hurt, death, arriage or he just tired o being a street savage The ast lie onl lasts or a short tie It’s only fun when you young comitting cries nce you old and ou look back, ou wasted so any ears taking people’s stacks tarted off as a child taking lunch snacks, Then as a teenager robbing the doe acks Now you see how ou wasted tie Wasted tie coitting dub cries itting in rison wondering wh, thinking in surts that you’d rather die hedding tears that all ro your ees losing loved ones while being the wall without saing goodbe I it’s one thing you can say, It would be put God irst and leave the crimes to the sinners become a winner and reach or the stars, If you don’t you may get too far too ar onto the wrong ath 10 Then it’ll be too late as you feel God’s wrath Stuck between a ell and tears, facing your biggest fears Will you see life again or die in ail Will you ake it to heaven or go straight to hell 11 Growing Up Fat by arletta Chapter 1: “Follow the drip” My shoulders tensed up every time felt the heat against y neck.