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Sense Of Control In The Poem

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Each individual’s environment impacts them in some way or another. It is the manner in which someone handles their given situation that determines the outcome. People who are born into deprived environments, or end up in one, have two options. They can either allow themselves to be controlled by it, or they can be the ones who exert the control. There are many examples of incarcerated people attempting to take control over their environment. Seemingly small gestures and acts can be someone’s only way of showing they too get a say in their surroundings. In the poems, “I breathe the wintry morning breeze,” from Incarceration Nation, and “Over Two Years Ago,” in Disguised as a Poem, the authors find ways to cope with their incarcerated environment by exerting control over it. Some may not view poetry as a viable way to control one’s environment, however to these prisoners it was their only feeling of escape.
Oftentimes, nature gives prisoners a sense of control and contentment within their surrounding that renews their feelings of hope. For example, the untitled poem with the first lines “I breathe the wintry morning breeze” depicts the author immersed in nature (Hartnett 4). They describe themselves as breathing in the “wintry morning breeze”, and “soaking in nature’s peaceful glory” and by doing so, being at peace in “mind and body” (Hartnett 4). This small amount of nature, gave the prisoner a renewed feeling of hope and well-being. The author states how they pray to the
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