Hear me Out: Poems From Prison

John Perry, Roman Metcalf, and Chales McCoskey are among the voices in Hear Me Out, that speak of love, hate, addiction and renewal.

At 47 , Roman Metcalf is out of prison determined to be a better person.? As a Chicagoan, he is presently employed in Salvation Army rehab in Waukegan and intends to study at the College of Lake County for certification in chemical dependency counseling. Meanwhile his goal is to work with kids and through theatre and poetry move those at-risk toward a positive sense of self and a productive future. Along the line of his MM.D. brother, John Perry once worked in Chicago as a paramedic, but. As he declares in ?Sunset Over Jacksonville C.C.?, he sold his ?freedom/for the fast life.? Now out and determined to use his newly acquired skills wisely, John repairs inner-city houses. Hoping to offset the powerful influence of gangs, along with karate John teaches kids to plan a constructive future. Hear Me Out anthology editor Lynette Seater directs poetry workshops in prisons in Lincoln and Jacksonville, IL. Poems from her recently completed collection titled Behind the Wall Poems won the Springfield Lincoln Library writer of the Year 1996 Award. She has authored a collection After the Light (North Woods Press, 1992). She writes, ?After four children and three degrees, I decided that investing myself in scholarly writing was to be locked in a closed airlines room. So now I spend what time I can in prison.?