Birds Will Sing
Created by Lee Call
We all have our own prisons. Some are made of walls. Some of us will fight for freedom. Others will simply cope. Some will seek contentment, a way to make the best of a bad situation. Some will settle for a label, a mantra they can tell themselves: Inner peace.
But not me. Sure, I will be grateful for all that I have. I will even give thanks. Have faith that there is a plan. But I will never forget, for even a moment, these concrete walls. I feel each moment lost deep within my soul, like nails in my flesh. I will remain grievous in my heart because I know that misery becomes a teacher when coupled with hope, when mixed in even measures with faith.
I will shed these chains. I will turn the page. And when I again taste freedom, it will be like a feeling I've never known. I will meet freedom not like an old acquaintance, but instead like a new love—one that will steal my breath and take me higher than I've ever been. I will feel freedom like many will never know, like I've never been free before.
If it were not for these walls and being in their shadow for so long, it would not be possible to know freedom so intimately. I will never accept this, but I will use it. I will experience every miserable moment to its fullest. I will let every tear reach my neck. I will dwell on all I've lost. I will hurt every day as I think about those who I left behind.
But I will not accept this fate. I will fight. I will press on because no matter how dark the night, the birds will sing in the morning.
Lee Call is currently serving a 20-year non-violent sentence. He arrived at Lawton prison determined not to let his time be wasted. From the beginning, he made a deliberate choice: to use this chapter of his life to grow, to learn, and to become someone he could be proud of. Writing became one of the central ways he pursued that commitment. As an aspiring writer and artist, he set goals rooted in his own definition of success—seeking guidance, building skills, contributing something meaningful to others, and finding a community that wanted to see him thrive.
For Lee, writing is both an anchor and an offering. It is how he stays aligned with the man he is becoming, how he builds a future for himself and his family, and how he shares a voice he once feared would go unheard.