I'm Ekiwah Adler-Beléndez.
Help me get back to jail
in the name of poetry!
Here's the story.
Dear friend,
Over the past year, it's been an absolute privilege to bring poetry to a juvenile detention center in Mexico City. Thanks to generous private donors, I conducted multiple workshops on how to read, write, and revise a poem for a group of young men aged 14-18 accused of a crime and detained until their trial.
Hi, I'm Ekiwah, how ya'll doing?
The rawness of these poems, their boldness, and their vitality inspired me – it's the real gasoline fueling my wheelchair.
And the final workshop culminated with these brave young poets reading their poems in front of more than 30 inmates and security guards.
The program was such a success that the juvenile detention center invited me to lead six more workshops with a new group of detainees. These workshops will also culminate in a final poetry performance. The tremendous support from people around the world for the first phase of the project has been astounding, and I’m confident we can do it again with your help!
Can I count on you to support this next chapter?
Keep reading to learn more!
With Love,
Ekiwah Adler-Beléndez
2024
My current project
Imagination unbound: poetry in prison
Short on time? Watch the video instead!
Giving poetry workshops and readings in a detention center in Mexico City for men between the ages of 14 to 18 awaiting trial . . .
Not all tattooed like I thought
No necklaces with skulls
And black gothic clothes
These young men
knit crosses out of wool and laugh
Play basketball,
love poems in the sun
And yet staff tell me behind closed doors
many have been to Hell and aren't out.
Who am I to expose the details?
To point fingers and seek explanations
Like a court judge?
Not me! As I read to them
I learn there's one thing
No bars can imprison.
Imagination unbound: Poetry
a sliver of the moon
Smaller than a mouse,
bigger than a house
What can trap it?
I can't promise
it will crush all cruelty
Set a man free
But I've seen
an ember
A poem light up
Nothing less than the fire
of love begins there:
A human being in language letting
the cold-hearted steel
Of desolate Hearts
begin to melt
and be shaped again:
If you're still listening
I can tell you
That time and time again
poetry has saved me.
But the practice of poetry
Requires time.
Its perfume must be
carefully extracted and macerated
to carry the soul of a rose
And bring it forth. And yet sometimes
the enchanted carriage
has a deadline like midnight
before it turns into a pumpkin.
So I need the funds to get back to the detention center fast.
I must return
to the detention center
as fast as I can
These teenagers here
have 1 to 5 months here
before they are judged
guilty or set free. Most are gone
Within 15 days.
Get me back quickly: donate now.
Make a PayPal donation
The project continues into 2024–2025!
To continue part two of the project, we need to raise $3,500 (U.S.) for six developmental sessions in poetry analysis and writing, and for a final poetry performance and celebration ($500 per session) as fast as possible. The challenge is that we need to complete these sessions within seven consecutive weeks, before the young men move on to sentencing or are released.
Meeting the funding goal in full is crucial to making this happen in the time frame required.
Bonus: Read poems written by the young inmates
A child's poem
There was a child dreaming,
Then his dreams left, and his soul turned dark and without feeling.
He realized he was trapped in a river of problems
and didn't know what to do.
My unhappy day
An afternoon in April, I lost you. I don't know what else to say.
There is sadness in the sad afternoon.
Your smile has pierced my brain like an arrow.
I remember the hour and day I no longer had news of you.
Untitled
I feel like a dog in a pound, unable to speak.
Your donations go to ...
Transportation
The necessary gas and toll money for my round trip to the detention center.
Driver and PCA
A skilled driver with wheelchair accessible car.
A disability personal care assistant (PCA) for me.
Programming
Donations are essential to the programming: and ensures the teaching curriculum is well developed, meaningful, and impactful and the project coordination between the facility is well managed and respects their code of conduct.
If you can't donate, spread the news!
On social media, with friends you'll amuse. With your network's help, we'll grow strong. Together, we'll right what's wrong! 😉
¿Preguntas?
- ekiwah6 at gmail dot com
- Friend me on Facebook
- Chat me on WhatsApp
About me–in quick rhyme
As a poet in a wheelchair
My father and mother paid most of my bills
So I could keep writing poetry and dancing with the Daffodils
while stealing a line from Wordsworth
–$0
Now that my beloved father is dead
There's no time to dip my quill in ink
I must win my daily bread
Or look at my empty
bank account with dread
Mary Oliver said it best
Being a poet is not more important
than being a janitor and cleaning a toilet
But neither is it less.
My skills as a janitor would be poor
and I'm too much of a wild man to fall
for academic tenure and its allure
So let me invite you instead
to donate to my poetry work
Which is where I can hit
the nails of living on the head!
Extras
Workshop details
Bonus: Read the prison poetry workshop curriculum
Workshop Schedule
The poetry workshop sessions are scheduled to take place in the morning, from 8:00 to 10:00.
Session Structure
Poetry Reading (30-40 minutes): We will begin each session by celebrating the poetry of others out loud. The selected poems will revolve around themes like the pursuit of freedom, the expression of emotions such as anger, depression, and jealousy, and the experience of incarceration portrayed through poetry. The diverse selection of material will be sourced from poets worldwide, setting the stage to ignite inspiration.
Workshop Portion (1 hour): After the poetry reading, we will transition into the workshop segment. This will provide a safe and welcoming space where participants will be encouraged to write their own poems. They can choose to share their work anonymously or openly. This creative process will serve as a springboard for addressing larger issues raised by the poetry. We will engage in discussions about solitude, the pursuit of happiness and a sense of community, and the intricacies of the creative process itself, aimed at crafting poems that deeply resonate.
Workshop Session Themes
Session 1: Poetry and Joy (Completed)
Session 2: Meeting the Enemy Within (Completed)
Session 3: Community and Belonging (Completed)
Session 4: Exploring Improvisation and Uncertainty (Upcoming)
Session 5: Reaping the Fruits and Bringing It All Together
Session 6: Celebrating the Results
Session 7: Final Performance for family and staff
Results
The ultimate goal of this workshop series is to compile a rough draft of a poetry anthology. This collection is expected to garner the attention of various human rights organizations, prompting their interest in contributing to its publication. Our shared journey through poetry will serve as a powerful testament to the transformative impact of creative expression within the context of these young lives. Once the anthology is published, all sales will go to bettering the lives of the authors.
Poetry corner
Read my poems
"Evening Summer Rain" – A poem for Mary Oliver
Evening Summer Rain
For Mary Oliver
To realize
fire and water are not enemies
only twins knotted
in the braids of lightning;
to unlatch my mouth
and unfurl my tongue
for the electricity
of each tingling drop—
to move toward the storm
and be drenched by it, deliberately—is a reckless
summer act.
But you and I know why
we have been busy
soaking the moment in
without rushing
for shelter. We hope for nothing less
than Heaven itself
plummeting down
into our bodies!
⎯ "Amor sobre Ruedas" by Ekiwah Adler-Beléndez (Editorial 17, 2021)
"Love Song to My Motorized Wheelchair"
Love Song to My Motorized Wheelchair
I often forget you. You
are cranky and lumbering.
But then I turn you on
and I remember
I love you
especially on high speed
I love you recklessly
rolling with me
my joystick is yours
throbbing in full gear
as we bump
denting the floor.
You wait for me to
charge you up
and you come squealing
asking for more!
If I don't please you
your weight
might crush my bones.
You love to see me wriggling
and when I try to pull out of you
you hold me inside.
Oh my dark dawn!
Oh my loyal taskmaster!
Oh my electric,
steel tempered mistress!
⎯ "Amor sobre Ruedas" by Ekiwah Ekiwah Adler-Beléndez (Editorial 17, 2021)