Foreword / Sister Helen Prejean --
Introduction / Bell Gale Chevigny --
Initiations. Prison letter / M.A. Jones ; Siempre / William Aberg ; Dog star desperado / William Orlando ; How I became a convict / Victor Hassine ; Arrival / Judee Norton --
Time and its terms. Reductions / William Aberg ; Where or when / Jackie Ruzas ; An overture / M.A. Jones ; Vivaldi on the far side of the bars / M.A. Jones ; Killing time / Roger Jaco ; After almost twenty years / Chuck Culhane ; There isn't enough bread / Chuck Culhane ; The manipulation game: doing life in Pennsylvania / Diane Hamill Metzger ; Giving me a second chance / Larry Bratt ; Myths of darkness: the Toledo Madman and the ultimate freedom / J.R. Grindlay --
Routines and ruptures. Spring / Michael Hogan ; Autumn yard / Chuck Culhane ; Letters come to prison / Jimmy Santiago Baca ; Trina Marie / Lori Lynn McLuckie ; After lights out / Barbara Saunders ; Poem for the conguero in D Yard / Raymond Ringo Fernandez ; In the big yard / Reginald Lewis ; Old man Motown / Patrick Nolan ; The tower pig / Scott A. Antworth ; The night the owl interrupted / Daniel Roseboom --
Work. Chronicling Sing Sing Prison / Easy Waters ; Cut partner / Michael E. Saucier ; Gun guard / Michael E. Saucier ; Skyline turkey / Richard Stratton ; Suicide! / Robert Kelsey --
Reading and writing. Coming into language / Jimmy Santiago Baca ; Pell grants for prisoners / Jon Marc Taylor ; Tetrina / Bedford Hills Writing Workshop ; Sestina: Reflections on Writing / Bedford Hills Writing Workshop ; Behind the mirror's face / Paul St. John ; Black Flag to the rescue / Michael E. Saucier --
Players, games. I see your work / Joseph E. Sissler ; solidarity with cataracts / Vera Montgomery ; Clandestine kisses / Marilyn Buck ; Ryan's ruse / Jackie Ruzas ; Feathers on the solar wind / David Wood ; Death of a duke / Dax Xenos.
Race, chance, change. First day on the job / Henry Johnson ; Eleven days under siege / Paul Mulryan ; Pearl got stabbed! / Charles P. Norman ; Sam / Michael Wayne Hunter ; Lee's time / Susan Rosenberg --
Family. Ancestor / Jimmy Santiago Baca ; Uncle Adam / Diane Hamill Metzger ; The red dress / Barbara Saunders ; Ignorance is no excuse for the law / Alejo Dao'ud Rodriguez ; Our skirt / Kathy Boudin ; The ball park / Henry Johnson ; Norton #59900 / Judee Norton ; A stranger / Anthony La Barca Falcone ; After my arrest / Judith Clark ; To Vladimir Mayakovsky / Judith Clark ; A trilogy of journeys / Kathy Boudin --
The world. Prisons of our world / Allison Blake ; Pilots in the war on drugs / Robert J. Moriarty ; No brownstones, just alleyways and corner pockets full / J.L. Wise, Jr. ; Americans / Jon Schillaci ; For Sam Manzie / Jon Schillaci ; Diner at midnight / David Taber ; The film / David Taber ; The 5-Spot Cafe / Henry Johnson ; Melody / J.C. Amberchele ; Mel / J.C. Amberchele --
Getting out. Dream of escape / Henry Johnson ; After all those years / Ajamu C.B. Haki ; Stepping away from my father / William Aberg ; To those still waiting / M.A. Jones ; The break / Robert M. Rutan --
Death row. For Mumia: I wonder / Kathy Boudin ; Easy to kill / Jackie Ruzas ; Recipe for prison pruno / Jarvis Masters ; Conversations with the dead / Stephen W. Anderson ; Walker's requiem / Anthony Ross ; "Write a poem that makes no sense" / Judith Clark --
Afterword: More about the authors / Bell Gale Chevigny.
