National Poetry Month: The Prison Poet

Robert Counts wears many hats: he is a poet, a chef, an ex-convict.  His passion for poetry developed during his 27-year prison sentence - he read everything he could get his hands on, from the works of Malcolm X to the poetry of Robert Frost.  In time, he started writing poetry of his own.

Rejection

by Robert Counts

I am the stone that the builders must reject
yet I house not anger nor regret
toward anyone lacking imagination,
I was born to move mountains,
to command the breath of worldwinds and hurricanes
to never look back nor down, except in introspection,
to make certain that only splendor surrounds me
and yet when I see pebbles floating on the scum of time,
I am forced to reflect, how can it be
that I am the stone that the builders must reject,
yet I stand tall without such defects,
for perhaps one day, the builders will need just such a structure
to measure up to...

Now, with his 27 year sentence behind him, Robert has earned himself certification as a Culinarian and works as a chef.  But he hasn't abandoned his writing - a book of his poetry titled First Light and Other Poems will hit the shelves this Fall.

To learn more about Mr. Counts, check out this feature article by Doris Friedensohn from the Huffington Post: link