Felon: Poems

Reginald Dwayne Betts' poetry is strong, emotional, and the redaction poems in particular struck a chord without overstaying their welcome. That said, nothing stuck with me, really- I can't say any particular phrase jumped out at me. Worth a read.

Wow. Just wow. Thanks for the copy Miss Katy.

I guess I just had a hard time with this. Apart from the fact that he did not commit a victimless crime, I just didn't love the poetry itself. I was hoping the poet would play with form a bit more? Obviously the redacted poems are super cool in their format but, besides this, they all look quite similar and I just got a bit bored.

I was particularly stunned by “Night” in which, if I've read correctly, we are being told that the speaker has stalked and physically abused “his woman” and still, somehow, we are meant to empathize with the fact that she is “a threat to the freedom [he] imagined she gave”. If I am misinterpreting this relationship and poem, please let me know. I would HOPE and prefer that I am wrong or misread.

As for the whole “victimless crime” thing I mentioned, I just don't think any of these read as if the speaker believes they committed a crime that deserves punishment. I want to make it very clear that I 100% understand a lot of these poems are commenting on the unfair treatment experienced while in prison. “Punishment” does not include being humiliated, abused, and exploited. But I also think there have to be some slices of awareness when you've committed a crime that has hurt someone.

The severity of their environment, though, is fully formed and discusses in such a gut-wrenching way. The moments with the sons are some of the most emotional moments for me. These moments were the most honest. I most “liked” the poems “if absence was the source of silence”, “mural for the heart”, and “For a bail denied”. There is some excellent commentary on the prison system and fatherhood .

Again, I am open to hearing other interpretations of this! Particularly in the poem Night, I'd like to know how others read it, what it really means, what I might have overlooked.