****ANNOUNCEMENT****
Join dVerse at our first LIVE session of 2026 (video and audio) on Saturday, January 17th from 10 to 11 AM New York City time (EST).
We always have attendees from around the globe! Read a poem of your own aloud OR come sit in to watch and listen. The more the merrier! A Google Meet link will be provided on the Thursday, January 15th OLN prompt.

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Hello my friends! Welcome to Tuesday Poetics here at dVerse! I am your host, Melissa from Mom With a Blog.

On this day in 1968, Johnny Cash performed and recorded an album at Folsom State Prison in Folsom, California. Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison was the singer’s first live album recorded. Inspired by the Crane Wilbur film Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison, Cash wrote “Folsom Prison Blues,” a song that became popular among inmates there.

After receiving letters from inmates requesting Cash to perform at their prisons, he held his first prison performance at Huntsville State Prison in Huntsville, Texas, in 1957. He performed at other prisons in the years leading up to the Folsom Prison performance.

Cash held two performances on January 13, 1968, accompanied by his future wife, June Carter; his father, Ray Cash; the Tennessee Three; Carl Perkins; the Statler Brothers; and Reverend Floyd Gressett, pastor of Avenue Community Church in Ventura, California. The album received rave reviews and went on two win two awards at the 1969 Grammy Awards.

At Folsom Prison has been cited as one of the greatest albums of all time by multiple sources, and in 2003, it was one of fifty recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_Folsom_Prison

Here are the lyrics to the song, “Folsom Prison Blues.”

I hear the train a-comin’, it's rolling ‘round the bend
And I ain’t seen the sunshine since I don’t know when
I’m stuck in Folsom prison, and time keeps draggin’ on
But that train keeps a-rollin’ on down to San Antone

When I was just a baby, my mama told me, “Son
Always be a good boy, don’t ever play with guns”
But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die
When I hear that whistle blowin’, I hang my head and cry

I bet there’s rich folks eatin’ in a fancy dining car
They’re probably drinkin’ coffee and smoking big cigars
Well, I know I had it coming, I know I can’t be free
But those people keep a-movin’, and that's what tortures me

Well, if they freed me from this prison, if that railroad train was mine
I bet I’d move it on a little farther down the line
Far from Folsom prison, that’s where I want to stay
And I’d let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away

For today’s Poetics prompt, I’d like you to read the lyrics, listen to the song, and write a poem about whatever it evokes for you. You may write in any form, but I’d like you to keep your poem to twenty lines or less.

If you’re new, here is how to join us:

• Write a poem in response to the prompt.
• Enter your name and a link directly to the post containing your poem into Mr. Linky. Remember to check the box to accept use/privacy policy.
• Read other poets’ work as they enter their links into Mr. Linky. Check back as more will be added.
• Please link back to dVerse from your post.
• Have a wonderful time!

Mr. Linky will remain open until 3pm EST on Thursday, January 15, 2025.