Inventory of Texas Prisons | A poem. | Jeremy Gregg | Prison. Poetry. Philanthropy.

Inventory of Texas prison cells (#poem)

Posted on July 15, 2012

Texas Prison System - from TDCj

Rough estimates based on info from TDCJ and other sources as of 7-15-2012

1 ninety-one-year-old man;
2 sixteen-year-old boys;
300 others condemned to die;
152,749 more scattered in between.

153,052 hearts, beating in cages;
306,104 hands, idling around bars;
1,530,520 toes, losing ground;
5,050,716 vertebrae, bent without burden.

<1,530,520,000,000,000,000,000 brain cells
contemplating the same, relentless question:

zero good answers.

About jeremygregg

Happily married father of two. CDO for the Prison Entrepreneurship Program. Bad poet, worse golfer. Still hoping to become an actor when I grow up.

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This entry was posted in Poetry, Prison and tagged how many inmates in prison in texas, how many men in prison in texas, how many people in prison in texas, inventory poem, jeremy, Jeremy Gregg, jeremygregg, list poem, number of prisoners in Texas, number of texas prisoners, poem, poet, poetry, prison, prison poem, prison poetry, texas prison, texas prison system. Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Inventory of Texas prison cells (#poem)

Shelli Dawn Carroll says:

January 27, 2013 at 6:30 pm

…but there is some good answers. I just saw your presentation on TEDX,. completely random. I have known for a few years now, if we refuse to look at the incarceration rate in our country it will cost us everything. I am so inspired by your work.

Reply
jeremygregg says:

January 31, 2013 at 10:05 pm

Thank you for the kind words.

re: the end of the poem, perhaps you are right. perhaps you are wrong. it depends on what you think the question is.

what do you think the question is?

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