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Well+Good: What led you to poetry?
Ra Avis:I started writing at a really young age.
Butpoetrybecame more of a focus after I was incarcerated in 2014.
Poetry keeps you on track.
It keeps you on the centered story.
Ra Avis is a formerly incarcerated poet and stroke survivor who advocates against mass incarceration.
I started writing a lot more in poetry after I came home in 2015 and basically pursued it since.
With poetry particularly Im trying to shed a light on things.
What do you think is the biggest thing that people get wrong when they think about formerly incarcerated people?
People forget that formerly incarcerated people are just like us.
We blend right back into society.
Humans are complex and formerly incarcerated people are no exception to that rule.
What is The Missionary Sex Position?
Because a year with hisonlyperson in jail killed a man.
It does harm to the families who arent serving time.
Ra Avis is a formerly incarcerated poet and stroke survivor who advocates against mass incarceration.
The people who are out there while pieces of their hearts are locked away.
We forget how big life is.
But I think what you forget is that human life is so much more complicated than that.
Youre also a stroke survivor, can you share a bit about that experience?
Last year I had a series of mini-strokes and it was very confusing.
I had a very difficult time with the medical staff inside of the prisons.
The strokes were actually due to clots that came from a hip injury that was untreated from prison.
That mustve been really terrifying.
Even more than a writer, I consider myself a reader.
Writing is a practice and Im always trying to get better at it.
And to lose that entirely was really debilitating.
This isnt the first time that prison took my words away from me.
The other day I had trouble with cauliflower and seashells.
I was trying to sayseashells, my brain was sayingcauliflower.
You sound very optimistic, which is so cool.
Do you feel like your experiences made you stronger?
Obviously, if I could have avoided them I definitely would choose that path.
And usually, when people hear that barrage of words, they think of it as a negative thing.
But thats only because our society values speed and toughness.
Theres so much joy to be felt in slowness and softness.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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