This moving and humane story is expressed in the language of poetry through the life of a man imprisoned for over three decades.

This booklet takes us on a journey through < s t 1 : c o u n t ry-region>Cuba, < s t 1 : c o u n t r y -region>Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the < s t 1 : c o u ntry-region>USA – from happy and free childhood to incarcerated manhood.

Luis Perez’s trials and tribulations, his joys and confusions are expressed in the language of a man who has never given up hope. He is a man who feels passionately about the social, moral, environmental and human rights. His poetry reveals that he care for our global environment will strike a thought-provoking cord in the hearts of many a reader.

His mother, a simple and natural Cuban; his father, a soldier, in the Cuban army; Luis Perez was the eldest son of a family in turmoil during the Cuban revolution of 1959. As a young and confused teenager, he arrived in the United States.

PENITENTIARY GEESE

Why we say they fly south?

As they beat their wings of freedom,

and into this prison they fly with

joy and wander about.

The contrast of a prisoner, the fences,

destitution and gates of iron,

all seem to vanish, if only for a moment,

when we see the birds of freedom.

It is an expression of nature when

these geese and birds enter the prison,

I feel the caress of peace when I see them,

It’s like exchanging thorns for flowers.

It’s a reflection of love that can only

be felt within one’s own family.

I view them with admiration and respect,

they give me a sense of something that

perhaps does not exist and I don’t have,

but only for an instant the burdens of life

seem to vanish with peace and tranquility.

I cannot touch them or feed them,

nor can I freely stroll about with them,

but as I see them beat their wings of freedom,

they give me hope and a longing to have

that freedom of flying high.

The beauties of nature, how much I’ve truly lost,

I am able to see the birds in prison as they fly by,

on their wings of freedom.  Why say they fly south?

they are penitentiary birds who are carrying the

wings of freedom.

******

TO ALL LOST LOVED ONES

I see danger and terrorism

& n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & nbsp;          in their faces.

I stand by and watch

& n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & n b s p ; & nbsp;          this hurt and hate.

For all lost loved ones,