Listening forever from insects and life
stirring in the lack of lightDirection is what is sought with no
clear answers — just hints of what
may be possible.A glimpse of the moon here and there
provides some sense of hope.
“Buddha” Visith Toby Phandanouvong, Space Between
I just turned the last page of The Jailhouse Lawyer by Calvin Duncan and Sophie Cull, a harrowing account of Duncan’s fight to free himself from Louisiana State Prison in Angola. An innocent man sentenced to life in prison at age 19, Duncan turned to the prison’s law library to do for himself what the New Orleans public defense system did not, carve a legal path to his release. There is a particular genius to the self taught as they move through the world honing their skills of observation, study, imitation, and finally mastery. During twenty-eight and a half years inside, Duncan learns the intricate puzzle of the law; he teaches others; he advocates for himself and provides legal counsel for his fellow prisoners. Secure in the knowledge of his innocence, Duncan moves with determination to find the key to his freedom. As I read, I found myself turning to the back dust jacket to reassure myself. Spoiler alert: Calvin lives and works as an exonerated man today.
The last few months we have been looking back with our writers to the time before they were incarcerated. They conjure a new space — one filled with the possibility of taking a different route, selecting different friends, making different choices. Stories exist in the space between ignorance and knowledge. If I knew how this would have turned out … The space between the right and wrong seems particularly murky at times. You only know what you know.
Ryan Poffenberger writes: Now, that you are of age to know between right and wrong. Your internal voice speaks to you through your spirit to make a conscious, righteous choice. As a young person, it’s your decision as to which life direction you decide to pursue.
Jimmy Kashi writes: After fifteen years into my forty-one sentence, I realized that I could have helped us reached all our goals if I never made the choice to drink, do drugs, and make poor decisions. I regret many of the choice that I’ve made as a young person, but I know that I can make better decisions moving forward.
Geoff Seymour writes: Sometimes things are gonna be really good, just go with them. Things always find a way to work themselves out even when they feel like they are not gonna. Listen to your dad when he says the path he took and the same his father took is not the right way to go. Trust him.
Walter Thomas writes: If I could talk to the younger me, I’d tell him to stay in school and everything that glitters ain’t gold. Those so-called friends you got won’t last.
Travis Asbill writes: A strange word when you can’t hold on to nothing precious because your hands are required to remain clenched — tight fisted.
It’s better to want for naught and go without than to thrust for life in the midst of drought.
Carolyn Stickley writes: If only I could go back in time, I would be a better person — or at least my own person. I wouldn’t get married before I was 30 and I would travel and explore with money I had earned summers in high school.
Phillip Luna writes: You are not the type of person that jumps off a rock into a body of water. When you enter the river, in fact, it is done by dipping in a toe, then testing an ankle, and then, perhaps experimenting with a knee. Each step requires its moment of acclimation, sometimes followed by a retreat and reassessment.
Hannah Brophy writes of another space between, the knowing and not knowing when she discovers a lump in her breast: My maternal grandmother had two radical mastectomies. I wasn’t married, and my imagination took a dark turn as I visualized lopping off one breast which would either qualify me for spinsterhood or becoming an Amazon warrior. For the only time in my life, I regretted not choosing archery for my PE requirements.
In the most laborious of Herculean efforts, Duncan builds a compelling case, making friends and advocates dedicated to work alongside him. And yes, this story and this man are exceptional! And at the same time, I find the stories in our writing workshops equally compelling. I admire our writers’ efforts to construct a life inside filled with meaning and purpose. In the letters to a younger self, there is an excavation that happens as our writers find something that they thought they lost. We readers are left with the bittersweet discovery. As Buddha gently reminds us, to glimpse of the moon (even through prison bars) brings hope. | TDS