PACK

BY TRACY SCHLAPP & DANNY WILSON

From a speck to a lump
Unable to care for myself
Became a mighty in my eyes
Though the dust awaits my return
I will fly into life.
From Dust to Life by Fernando Palayo Brambila

Managing the PonyXPress workshops relies in part on efficient packing. We have one shot a month to see most of our writers, so we anticipate the materials we will need (and get those items on a transport memo), there is the workshop plan and printed worksheets, and of course there is the personal packing (no blue jeans!)  Most importantly, we are picking up submissions and returning hard copies of published work. Folks inside do not have access to this site. For each person we publish, we create an individual paper packet with the introduction (like this one) and all the pieces submitted with their work. Yes, it’s a lot of paper filed into the clear accordion folder designated for each prison.

Connecting the travel dots between the prisons is geared to maximize our in-person workshops. For example, this weekend, we will spend a day at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton recording the voices of our writers. We will then drive to Baker City to see folks at Powder River in the morning and in the afternoon reconnect with our new group at Snake River in Ontario. Tripling up our workshops, allows us to include more folks and build stronger writing communities.

This week, we have compiled the writing on connection from the folks we will be recording in Pendleton. We are looking forward to spending the day together. We relish the opportunity to record and share their voices. This requires additional work for our staff administrator at EOCI, Leslie Halbert. Each month, she stays late to let us into the facility, attends our sessions, and is a welcomed and enthusiastic participant in the workshops.

Leslie, along with our administrative contacts in each of the prisons are frontline supporters of this project. This is a collective effort. Our writers trust us with their words. The grants we have received pay our travel costs. Most recently, we have received support from The Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation and the Oregon Cultural Trust. Your support through reading, commenting, and paid subscriptions are the fuel in the tank to keep folks writing, to get inside. We love this work and are genuinely grateful to all of you. Thank you. | TDS & DJW

A CONNECTION WORTH REDEEMING
BY WALTER THOMAS
Often times I wonder how much of an impact I still have. This doubt is all in my head, I think of when he was an infant sleeping peacefully on my chest, our breathing synchronized like Olympic swimmers.  Now, we’re 2000 miles away. I’m wishing I could tuck him in bed at night. 

CONNECTIONS
BY JACOB W. HARPER
Deep in the soul is the need for honest connection to one another, to an ideal. The earth, stars, creatures, God or devil beg the fundamental question of “why?” Why does this treacherous heart search for connections amid a field of mines? Why, even after pain is felt, does it yearn for connection — like addicts for their drug? 

PERSEVERE
BY MATTHEW NORRIS-AVINA
Though I journey through a forest of deceit and illusion … I close my eyes,
looking to my heart for the proper path.

SILENCE TO BRIDGE
BY FERNANDO PALAYO BRAMBILA
I abandoned my dwelling
On a day when all are awake
To see the sky illuminated
With a multitude of colors from the
Suspended bridge.