My Trip to England and My List of Positive Attributes
by Sarah Beth Young-Williams
Friends of Guest House, June 2023
Budding Journalists at Space of Her Own
March 28, 2023: When Space of Her Own (SOHO) asked us to help the girls create their magazine, how could we resist? SOHO puts out a pretty, sparkly magazine twice a year, written by their 12-year-old girls. I love getting it in the mail! It’s big and full of pictures and full of stories written by the girls about their adventures. Through SOHO these girls learn everything from ice skating to carpentry, and end the school year by, with the help of their mentor, decorating their bedroom. They have a space of their own!
Writing for a magazine takes focus and practice, and that’s where Heard came in. And we brought in our A Team – Phallon Perry, who has published several children’s books and knows exactly how to work with these cute preteens.
Inmates Explore Creativity through Writing Contest Organized by Heard
September 8, 2022: Our thanks to the City of Alexandria Sheriff’s Department for this coverage of our writing contest with the William G. Truesdale Adult Detention Center. So many people worked so hard to make this contest a success, and we extend a special shoutout to our judges: Mary Wadland, publisher of The Zebra, historian, genealogist and author Char McCargo Bah, and Zeina Azzam, Alexandria’s poet laureate.
And an even bigger shoutout to Sheriff Sean Casey and the detention center team! We are so grateful for their support and the hours of logistics that a virtual awards ceremony takes. That said, let’s hope that next year our awards ceremony can be in person again! You can read the entire article here.
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Untitled
by Letecia Burch
First place winner, Fiction, Arlington County Detention Facility/Heard/OAR writing contest, August 2022
I grew up with a woman who inhabited a different world
from the loving carefree mothers of my friends.
Not saying she didn’t love me.
She showed it in a different way.
I had more of a friend than a mother
I couldn’t tell them apart
and definitely didn’t know where to start.
My mothers feelings were like intense colors—
fiery reds, soft pinks, earthy greens and the deepest slate gray.
Why should I write of teardrops falling
if your no longer there to wipe them away.
Silently obscuring the timeless tells that follow.
Who’s fingers traced the outline of my face
when I cried tears of sorrow
not knowing I’m on borrowed time.
Soon youd leave and this time I cant call or follow
for a beautiful soul who would never come back
I try and catch my breath
when I feel the panic attack.
It might be quicker and silent to sink into quicksand
to disappear beneath its surface
I’ve always thought and been told
pick your head up you have a purpose
It’d be so much easier to just let go but I cant
because of not the chance of seeing her again
is so clear seeing the pearly white gates of heaven
I can’t wait to be with you again.
In art class they taught us that sunlight contains all the colors of the rainbow.
You were my sunlight.
You taught me how to find a rainbow.
You’ll forever be in my heart.
What Goes on at the County Jail
What Goes on at the County Jail
by Bullard
Third place winner, Fiction, Arlington County Detention Facility/Heard/OAR writing contest, August 2022
- Where the commissary is the bail
While the frail
Complain that the milk is spoiled
And the bread is way too stale
- Meanwhile,
Mail is also being pass-out like a
Hygiene kit
To all those
I suppose
That is willing to use it
- You see
Everybody knows that a shower
Can devour
Dirt
Along with the help of some soap
It shouldn’t hurt
- And speaking of pain
What about the insane
Thought of having a smelly celly
The type that lies thru his teeth
Even on the tele
One of the reasons why….
- The phone ,ay be hard to use
Especially
Since there are those that want to
Abuse
- From a candle lit
To a fuse
- From a word that curse
To a nice nurse
That’ll come to your aid
With a bottle of Gatorade
- From the county of Dade
All the way to the county jail
Where the “fresh flavor”
Is a savior
Similar to what spinach does for
Popeye the sailor
- From Brutus to Olive Oil
Some may feel as if they’re in
“Hot Water”
And no Im not talking about the kind
That boil
- Good grief!!
- From a deputy to a police chief
- From sweetgreen to sweetleaf
- With this Imma keep it brief
And say to all that red
- Thank-you
And
Have a nice day
- Even if the clouds in the sky are in
50 shades of a darker gray.
Public Command’s All Street’s Donational’s De-Man-da-Ment’$
Public Command’s All Street’s Donational’s De-Man-da-Ment’$
by Christ Joshua M. Fletcher
Fiction/Arlington County Detention Facility/Heard/OAR writing contest, August 2022
If ¢aught by Christ Jo$hua, thy man of your lord GOD. It will be a $ame day fine of $300.00 or a ¢itizen arre$tment will be made.
If, heared out in publi¢ the letter$ O.M.G. or name ¢alled in vain, Chri$t Jo$hua or not ¢alled to be needed a $500. to $1,000 fine of $ame day need’$ to be paid in full.
When you lie to thy $elf & lie in the pre$ant’s of your lord & $avior for not #01 Perfect rea$on a $250. to $500 fine $ame day payment in full.
When Chri$t Jo$hua walks up & a $moke $e$$on i$ going, just contribute for Native ¢ause. If not $175 to $300 in ful ¢ash & along w/your $moke. Plu$ if not are$t will be citizen reque$t per weak will be made!! HA HA HA
If caught $elling Native tree’$ to the young youth and not age 18 & older, All tree’$ will be taken on $pot w/arre$tment being made, Plu$ $ame day payment’$ of $1,000.
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