Hope Still Lives
Created by Raymond White
Image generated by staff
Hope is the bleak void space inside us;
that hungers for life and redemption,
yet we come to prison, broken ourselves,
standing by a hollow window of
our own ghost prints, watching countless
drops of rain pour onto a weeded harvest,
that may someday grow into
rose springs, by a sun we
have yet to feel or see.
that hungers for life and redemption,
yet we come to prison, broken ourselves,
standing by a hollow window of
our own ghost prints, watching countless
drops of rain pour onto a weeded harvest,
that may someday grow into
rose springs, by a sun we
have yet to feel or see.
Hope is the wounded warrior stranded in
a hot desert of battlefield,
clinging on to every inch of life he
has left, faintly gasping, as he
bandages his deep sores—hoping that
he will someday be healed and restored.
Hope is the pain and suffering I feel
each day I awake in a cold stone cell,
it is the every step I take down
the hall, each self-punishing
thought that tells me no matter
what—you must live and press on.
Hope is the everlasting fire of the
day star, the blue heaven of moon steering away
from all the mist and gust of last dawn’s
sorrows;
painted into a gold-silver horizon,
a peaceful universe of infinity.
Hope is the realization that we can still be free,
though we live in the dark, sweetly dreaming,
laboring thoughts, drawing blue prints
across the sky over the barbed wire and man
made stone, looking for a way home.
Hope is the voice of a beautiful brown eye angel
telling me don’t give up & keep fighting,
“Raymond, you must go on, to prevail into
places of no prohibition, like city, mountain,
and sky.”
Hope is the 30 years map of tears that pour down
my face each time I look in the mirror and know,
yet wounded, I still stand firm and strong.
— Though our own sea is bittersweet, I know deeply in
my heart, that I will sail and someday make it to shore.
Copyright 2025
By: Raymond White Jr.
California Men’s Colony State Prison
AI Art by UF Team Member
By: Raymond White Jr.
California Men’s Colony State Prison
AI Art by UF Team Member
About the Artist
Raymond White
Raymond White Jr. # BJ5926. I am a poet, author, & artist that loves expressing himself through the metrical dynamics of poetry. As your new contributor, I aim to become a tremendous inspirational poet and artist, and I hope to change the way everyone perceives life through the heart of my story.
“There is a purpose for suffering for each one that endures, and if you could see light out of your own darkness, it will lead you to your destiny.” — Raymond White Jr.