listen: FATHER
BY TRACY SCHLAPP & DANNY WILSON
In October 2024, we spent the day with our writers at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton to record the fourth installment of the PonyXpress Radio Series — it aired on XRAY.FM in Portland last month.
Matthew Norris-Avina
Persevere
Though the masses that surround me shout and scream blaspheme and lies … I
whisper wisdom, truth and understanding.
Fernando Pelayo Brambila
A Taste of My Development
My ancestors and I grew up without borders; no stone fence was too high to keep us out. Like wild horses we sensed the storms coming before the clouds appeared on the western mountains. Though we were barefoot and lacked extra garments to wear, no worries seemed to beat us. Looking back, it seems a desolate place.
Walter Thomas
A Connection Worth Redeeming
The most formidable thing I've done in life is strive to teach my son how to grow as a young man while I'm locked away in prison. Each day there are new obstacles: bullies at school, saying what you mean and meaning what you say, why playing with fire is dangerous. As he grows, so do I.
Michael Dean Scott
Found Fathers
I grew up with a violent alcoholic father and a drug-addicted mother. These people, who were only a negative influence in my childhood, abandoned me when I came to prison in 2004. My first year I bounced in and out of segregation for various assaults, disrespect, and contraband. One fateful day, I met my true ancestors, and over the course of six years they molded me from a monster into a decent man.
WC Puppy
Cardboard Legacy
Of all the family left to dwell upon this solemn Earth,
There stands a child — but only one — of three were given birth,
Who dares to care and overlook his father's loathsome deed,
For which he paid a weighty cost that deprived the son of needs.
Jacob Harper
Fraternal Love
These are the people who see the need and fill it, without you asking, these are the people who roof your mother’s house because you’re in jail.
Phillip Luna
Father August
I found that I more closely identified with my father’s side — a big family filled with many cousins, aunts, and uncles. Like most Hispanic families, we were loud and gathered often. On Christmas it was not a turkey or ham in the oven. No, it was bowls of masa, corn husks, and shredded beef seasoned with cilantro, onions, garlic, and peppers. What flavor!
Luis Rodgriguez
Do You Think of Me?
So many good things about you on my mind
If I said them all we’d be 99
Am I tripping in my thinking, am I sipping dream juice
Do you think of me like I think of you.
TDS & DJW