In the almost 20 years he’s been incarcerated, Texas-based poet and artist James Broadnax has used his art to hold onto his sense of purpose. In addition to his writing, he has established art classes in prison and served as a mentor in his community. His poetry and the work he has helped inspire are a reminder of the power of creative expression.
These four poems detail Broadnax’s intimate journey toward personal redemption. They wrestle with faith and identity as their speakers confront inner wounds and a complex past. Toggling between despair and gratitude, the imagery and shifting tone combine to create a deep sense of vulnerability. The speaker knows the path to freedom requires serious work, that it is not an end goal but, rather, a state of mind—an ongoing process shaped by reflection and the quiet persistence of hope.
During Broadnax’s sentencing in 2009, prosecutors pushed for capital punishment by using rap lyrics he had written as evidence of the potential for him being a threat to others in the future. Despite the introduction of new evidence to the case, James Broadnax is set to be executed on April 30, 2026. Read more about the campaign to stay his execution here.
Cloud View
Inspiration…
Tunes from a symphony
I feel it was sent to me
Melodies so strange,
Nothin kin to me
If I fail to recognize sin,
please have the wisdom to repent for me
Pain never lasts forever.
Scriptures of sympathy
One life-
One chance to see it crash around me
One time to do it over, like I had an epiphany
But I still struggle and strive
so hard to maintain,
so focused on not-to-do’s
that I’m sleepin’ on main things
Reminisce…
Past-life…
a mirage in the frame
Tears of a God fall-
Just a day in the rain
Realeyes
A voice that’s immutable
Understand I’ve already passed –
Seppuku
Soulful…so free when it bleeds
Life is elemental when it sways with the trees
Speaking past tense, don’t cof-fin me
because beauty is no less
when it falls in the breeze
Life’s only a dream within a dream
Everything the subconscious perceives as it seems
The truth is never hidden
through a sky so serene…
The spirit of the wind
always weeps
dead leaves.
Finally, I Found Me (part I)
So difficult to pay homage to a God unseen.
Scrapes of a dirty knee.
Between rhythms of degrees and abstract beasts
I hope you see,
That the frayed ends of sanity tend to be
In saying please
Through a flame… the frame of time watches uncertainty
Finally, I found me…
You see, these demons…
Drift away from black clouds
Dreams may abound
closed-caption, no sound
For my life in rewind plays back, no crowd
No brother, no sisters
Elements nor familiars
Just me, and myself, and the man in the mirror
White knuckles atop porcelain water
Running never clearer
Vague images of perception give way to no resolve
A reflection of the surface, smooth current, no storm
Shapeshift, no form,
I adapted to the norm
No blades on the face
Three slits up an arm
Every day was a day to a wish never born.
But please, don’t be alarmed.
It’s just my words to the song.
Of a thought beyond action
As the next line reads
I embraced an early grave every time you saw me bleed
It was only my notion to cry
It was above me because I never learned to die.
Yeah, what you see.
Sometimes it takes pain to make the brain a little smarter.
I was traded the chance of being a child with a father
With a talent to being able to survive when it’s harder.
You know, time when niggas hustle just to make it through.
But a lot of wishes are only vague thoughts that never come true.
I’m critical of doubt…
So what you pray for…
I prayed for love.
I prayed for balance.
I prayed for peace
And a world with no malice.
I prayed for knowledge and
Wisdom,
And the need to understand what I can’t control.
So I ask you to pray for my Soul…
I used to feel I was born in a time
Where angels fear to be
Maybe my depth and vision just appears
That way to me
While learning to love,
I’d forgotten to cry…
But you gotta understand that they win
When your soul dies.
Once upon a time,
My vision toward life intended for me not to make it,
But I’m here—
Allowing you to glimpse a part of me
That I fear
What was, has always been
You only seem to appear
It was a time to realize
Children only shed pure tears
Finally, I found me.
The Light
Where does the light come from,
That streams across my wall.
Where does the light go to,
As the sun completes its fall.
