THE POEMS ON THESE PAGES were written within the framework of a bilingual creative writing course titled Pido la Palabra, which was taught in fall 2023 at the Gregory S. Coleman state prison in Lockhart, Texas. Offered through the university extension program of the University of Texas at Austin, under the auspices of the Texas Prison Education Initiative, the course is part of a larger grant-funded project titled “Pido La Palabra: A Texas Prison Literature Project for Social Justice and the Literary Imagination.” It was led by LLILAS Director and Professor of Spanish and Portuguese Adela Pineda Franco, and Spanish and Portuguese PhD students Gabriel Noriega and Yefferson Ospina. Volunteers Alex Voisine, Celine Norman, and Kelsey Bergeson were part of the teaching team.
As a culmination of the course, each student contributed at least one work of poetry or prose for publication in a magazine produced by LLILAS. The students also contributed drawings to the publication, and collectively chose its title—Deep Within: Expressions from the Chicas in White. The production of the magazine was a collaborative effort among Pineda Franco, Noriega, and Ospina, in addition to the production team of Jennifer Mailloux and Susanna Sharpe. View the magazine here.
“At the Coleman prison, the students made literature something of their own,” wrote Pineda Franco in the magazine’s Introduction. “For them, the meaning of Pido la Palabra involved a confrontation with their situation of imprisonment and with society’s legal apparatus, but it also led them to explore the relationship between life and literature. In these writings, the authors offer courageous words of unquestionable sincerity.”
Pido la Palabra will be offered to Coleman students once again during the 2024–2025 academic year.
Pido la palabra, poema colectivo
Septiembre 2023, Lockhart, Texas
Pido la Palabra
because I have something to share
a todos los que me escuchan,
lo que siente mi corazón en rimas y versos,
a quien amo y también al viento.
Pido la Palabra para dar fuerza,
para buscar lo positivo.
It can always be worse.
Tengo para decir palabras de amor y experiencia.
Soy fuerte, valgo, soy importante.
Hay mucha libertad en ser responsable.
Pido la palabra for peace of my mind and to cleanse my heart.
Para recordarme que aunque alguien juzgue lo que tengo que decir
es mi manera de expresarme.
I have a lot to say!
I love to learn and also share what I know.
Pido la palabra para poner límites,
también porque luego voy a dormir
porque mañana me levanto temprano.
Do you know how much I love you?
How I love my friends, my family, the people who hate me, ANYBODY…
Por eso digo:
love hard, ama fuerte.
Pido la palabra para hablar
A todo aquel que preste oído a mi voz.
Pido la palabra para hablar
a nadie.
Eso . . . Eso . . . Eso es poesía
By MARIBEL RAMÓN GARCÍA
El pasar de los años en mi vida,
unos años alegres,
unos años sufrida,
otros años perdida.
La inseguridad . . . ¿Qué será de mí algún día? Eso es poesía.
El dolor de la inocencia perdida,
el amor no disfrutado, marcado por el dolor acumulado,
de un alma triste y vacía,
eso es poesía.
La vida de una inocente fracturada,
que nunca verá la luz del día.
El grito ahogado de su llanto,
eso es poesía
El deseo de conocer tu linda carita,
el anhelo de tenerte entre mis brazos.
tu recuerdo latente en mi memoria,
eso es poesía.
Una vida amarga, una vida fría,
una cara al mundo
llena de mentira,
eso es poesía
Una vida llena de altibajos,
donde el tiempo cura las heridas.
La vida sigue su curso,
el perdón es gracia Divina.
Eso . . . Eso . . . Eso es poesía.
Time
By GLADYS GAMBOA
Take time to watch a moonlight sea
And look in awe at a towering tree.
Take time to look in the heart of a flower
Adorned with diamonds from a gentle shower.
Take time to stop and stare
At wonders around you everywhere.
Take time to tell your closest friend
Your love and loyalty will never end.
Take time to make time.
Because for all, too soon, there will be no more time.
Artwork by anonymous students, Coleman Unit, Lockhart, Texas; previously published in “Deep Within: Expressions from the Chicas in White.”
Pido la Palabra is generously supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
