PRISONER EXPRESS

To have no pride is like not being human. Even monks are proud of their austerity and humble natures. Animals have pride too. No one would deny a cat's pride that has never seen a cat. Whenever I hear pride giving a color I've learned to smile. It took effort to get over the urge to throw a rock. How little must a person have to be proud of if all they can find to voice pride in is their skin color? It's only an evolutionary adaptation to the environment based on the use of vitamin D. A genetic anomaly. No more, no less.

Our pride should be in personal accomplishments. My greatest pride comes from getting through a day without feeling malice or anger at anyone. I had to stop counting public figures and politicians since Bush got in office. Figure a little malice is understandable where Bushites are concerned. Just counting the people that I come in contact with might prove harder than you might believe and my successful days are fewer than you might think.

Another point of pride is in being able and willing to help someone get through the day. Guard or Prisoner, either one can have a day they need help or a kind word and some understanding can ease the strain of a hard day for a guard. Maybe a prisoner needs a book or wants to talk. Books and conversation I have in spades. (No Cracks Needed About My Talking Too Much) Of course, the more contact I have with my fellow prisoners the less likely I am to get through a day without malice or anger. I do my best.

When I hear my writing has been inspirational to anyone I'm proud beyond all reason. To think that an uneducated, south Alabama, redneck is affecting formative minds- what a scary thought. Good thing I've raised above my redneck raisin'.

This year's list of personal accomplishments is worthy of pride and longer than expected. Got published in The Sun; finished my first book, though not the one I planned. Hope I'm not speaking too soon, it seems like another entire year without a disciplinary: No violence. I've broken my personal record of 35 months by going over the three year mark now.

It has been a year of small accomplishments and incremental gains. No failures to speak of unless you take into account the day's anger and malice got the best of me, the rejection slips from publishers and the days I lost my cool with guards and got lucky. Even with the close calls I can be proud there were so few. I'll be more proud once the last section of my book made it through the mail gauntlet and reached the free world. I'm anxious because it got lost before and I'm proud to have held my temper with the mailroom personnel. Lots of days lost to malice through.

Yeah, I'm proud of my genetic heritage, even the neck so rosy red in sun or anger. It's nothing to crow about. I'd rather crow about the personal accomplishments that took effort on my part. I have a few and I have goals that will lead to others.

My fellow writers at Prisoner Express make me proud. In my warped thinking you are all kin. Skin color is damned! If you think that you can't be family because of your various opinions, you have never been to a redneck family reunion down home. Wish I could take you all, but I doubt I'd be welcomed; you would.

If I've done this well every time you hear someone braying about the color of their pride you'll smile. I'm sure to be smiling too since that sort of ignorant jackass abounds in prisons everywhere. We'll be family bound by smile ties and we all have ink in our blood. That gives me more in common with you than my blood kin.