Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $9.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Felon: Poems
    Felon: Poems
    Felon: Poems
    Audiobook1 hour

    Felon: Poems

    Written by Reginald Dwayne Betts

    Narrated by Reginald Dwayne Betts

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A searing volume by a poet whose work conveys “the visceral effect that prison has on identity” (New York Times).

    Felon tells the story of one man in fierce, dazzling poems― canvassing his wide range of emotions and experiences through homelessness, underemployment, love, drug abuse, domestic violence, fatherhood, and grace― and, in doing so, creates a travelogue for an imagined life. Reginald Dwayne Betts confronts the funk of post-incarceration existence and examines prison not as a static space, but as a force that enacts pressure throughout a person’s life. Challenging the complexities of language, Betts animates what it means to be a “felon.”

    From “Night”

    What she tells me: prison killed you
    my love, killed you so dead that you’re not
    here now, you’re never here, you’re always.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateOct 15, 2019
    ISBN9781797101651
    Felon: Poems
    Author

    Reginald Dwayne Betts

    Reginald Dwayne Betts is a poet, legal scholar, educator and prison reform advocate. At age 16 he committed an armed carjacking, was prosecuted as an adult, and sentenced to nine years in prison. He started reading and writing poetry during his incarceration.

    Related to Felon

    Related audiobooks

    Poetry For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Two Poems

      Mar 15, 2022

      a ghost is hangingfrom the doorpostof our past— can you see it?it has wounds—it’s bleedingyears from its mouth [.] when we left ourhouses that aprilit was for history’s pleasure— twice the war wasin far-flung townsthen it grew a light foot and veered

      1 min read

    • Article

      The Convict

      Jul 10, 2020

      The Convict
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Lives of Bryan

      Jun 1, 2023

      The Lives of Bryan
      19 min read

    • Article

      Three Poems

      Jan 1, 2020

      In class, I stared because of the blood going blue.The chalk that coated our fingerly teeth.The way we lapped each other (on the shorewhere the flowering). I gave away our location. Smacked my lips in the coat closet.Sucked at her teeth. We, on all e

      4 min read

    • Article

      Letter to My Son

      Jul 4, 2015

      Letter to My Son
      30 min read

    • Article

      The Final Truth

      Jan 21, 2020

      The Final Truth
      5 min read

    • Article

      Nugrybauti

      Apr 24, 2019

      Nugrybauti
      8 min read

    • Article

      Begin Again

      Jun 14, 2022

      My grandfather came to live with me. There was nowhere else for him to go. What had happened to all his children? Death, decay, exile—I hardly know. My own parents died of pain. But I must not be too gloomy, at the beginning, or you will leave me, an

      6 min read

    • Article

      Three Poems

      Jul 1, 2018

      Three Poems
      4 min read

    • Article

      The After

      Jun 10, 2023

      He is sitting opposite me, staring blankly like a dead fish. Stone eyes. Cobalt and lifeless. Pale gray skin, dripping scales. I imagine him hauled out of the water and dumped on the riverbank, gasping for breath. Just as he deserves. I only agreed t

      13 min read

    • Article

      Let’s Say

      Oct 7, 2022

      I magine a sticky, early August morning, around three o’clock. It is dark, the moon blocked by clouds, no streetlights, a siren in the distance, medics running to a heart attack. Imagine a man out on a bike or walking a sick dog, or maybe a woman who

      10 min read

    • Article

      Where the HEART IS

      Dec 20, 2022

      Where the HEART IS
      4 min read

    • Article

      Stepping Off The Dragon

      Sep 30, 2024

      Stepping Off The Dragon
      7 min read

    • Article

      Pleasure Palace

      Sep 1, 2022

      Pleasure Palace
      15 min read

    • Article

      Shame Is Ever-Present When You’re Sitting in a Cell

      Oct 23, 2020

      Between a strained relationship with my family and the death of a good friend, I’ve struggled to feel like I’m worth something.

      5 min read

    • Article

      Anthem Of Our Crazy Age

      Nov 2, 2022

      MY old friend Ena planned every detail of her funeral. When she told me that she had written the eulogy to be delivered by her daughter, I said: ‘Don’t you think that’s cheating?’ ‘No!’ She snapped. ‘I want to set the record straight. I was a very go

      4 min read

    • Article

      Swisher Sweets

      May 1, 2022

      Swisher Sweets
      17 min read

    • Article

      Heavy Heart

      Feb 5, 2022

      Heavy Heart
      6 min read

    • Article

      Carrie Fountain

      Mar 1, 2020

      Outside Dublin, Texas the radio stationsdisappear and I’m left alone with the faintvoice of a call-in psychologist talkingto a man in Cleveland about the voiceof the self, the narratives that voicetells, how they can be sharp and wrongand cut to the

      5 min read

    • Article

      Two Poems

      Nov 1, 2021

      What is the uncanny valley? asks the student and I draw the graph on the board, and point to the lowest point, and then move up the slope; This is like a scarecrow, it’s kinda shaped like a human but you’re not sure; This is where you’d put a mannequ

      6 min read

    • Article

      In Defense Of The Harvest

      Nov 10, 2021

      I know what you will all be thinking. It is true that I was asked to write this story by members of the current government. A government pertaining of a few politicians, lawmakers, and others who are currently subject to public scrutiny as possibly b

      10 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Felon

    4.5/5

    72 ratings5 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be a collection of raw and honest poems that evoke both pain and joy. The narration is amazing and the poems make readers think. The book is highly recommended for those who appreciate gritty and poignant writing.

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      I think that some of the poems could have benefited by being sharply edited. Whittled down to a cleaner tighter version of themselves, they might have been better. That said he has real talent and his poetry is definitely worth reading. I agree with Sandra that it is gritty and honest, poignant and the righteous anger shows through clearly but so does his regret about the child who was killed by his peers. And just by the way here in the Midwest in the large city where I live there are outlying townships one of which was actually found to be doing what he describes in one of his poems. People were being jailed for traffic tickets and other finds that they could not pay and then kept in the jail because they could not pay even though every day in jail they were incurring fines equal to the cost of their daily upkeep. I don't think there was a way to work off these fines which activists have described as modern-day slavery. Most of them were African-American as most of the Township's residents were and many of the police force were. They were finally investigated and shut down, forbidden to follow that same process. But families were torn apart and jobs were lost and lives were probably severely damaged. I am glad that he spoke beautifully of his outrage about this.
    • 4/5
      Great poems that make you think. Lots of pain and hurt, but also joy.
    • 4/5
      These poems are so raw. Sometimes difficult to listen to but always a true joy.
    • 5/5
      Amazing narration, amazing poems! I must read the actual text in the future so as to further appreciate each line!
    • 4/5
      Reginald's work is gritty, honest and poignant. This sample made me want to read some of the work.

      1 person found this helpful