Mike Owens

Mike Owens is a poet and human rights activist. He is currently editing his debut collection of poetry and essays from a northern California prison. His favorite activities include writing love letters to his wife, rejecting prison cultural norms, and drinking obscene amounts of coffee.


Articles by Mike Owens

Prison and Justice Writing
Wednesday May 4

Black Settlement Photo: Circa 1867

Twelve ancestor souls have been preserved In sepia tones one hundred forty years deep. Still uncomfortable in their two-year-old freedom. It’s a pseudo-freedom, the kind that pinches Expressions tight like new church shoes. Their settlement staggers along the sloped banks Of a muddy river. Southern dust clings to everyone, as if cursed Earth itself were