<html aria-label="message body"><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><div dir="auto" style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><span style="font-size: 22px;">To Prisoners</span><div style="font-size: 22px;"><br></div><div style="font-size: 22px;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I call for you cultivation of strength in the dark.</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Dark gardening</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">in the vertigo cold.</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">in the hot paralysis.</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Under the wolves and coyotes of particular silences.</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Where it is dry.</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Where it is dry.</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I call for you</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">cultivation of victory Over</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">long blows that you want to give and blows you are going to get.</span><br><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Over</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">what wants to crumble you down, to sicken</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">you. I call for you</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">cultivation of strength to heal and enhance</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">in the non-cheering dark,</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">in the many many mornings-after;</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">in the chalk and choke.</span></div><div style="font-size: 22px;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></span></div><div style="font-size: 22px;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- </span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Gwendolyn Brooks</span></div></div></body></html>