Kentuckian Poet Joe Ricky Knight

Hello and welcome to my webpage.

I hope my profile for potential friends
operates like a footbridge between us.
I've imagined you at your computer considering

this profile and it pricked my curiosity.
Two voices spoke and broke the silence
inside me. "I wonder if we could become friends,"

a gentle mental voice whispered,
and then my serene spirit said,
"Sometimes an act of Fate brings us someone

destined to be our best friend and soul mate."
As those words are pulsing like a neon sign
inside my mind, I want to emphasize

an ordinary friendship must come first.
I hope to hear from you whether you are searching
for a compatible companion or future friend.

Your age, level of education,
nationality, and physical appearance
are non-issues to me. You see, I've grown

accustomed to seeing through the human shell.
I tend to think, as Allen Ginsberg wrote
"We're all golden sunflowers inside."

I've been locked up since 1987 and learned
"You must change your life," as the poet Rilke said.
My personal motto has been Education

Is The Key To Positive Change. I have educated
myself with the help of prison personnel
and poets and professors through the mail

as I've studied some of the best collections
of poetry and textbooks used in creative
writing programs across the country.

My mentors have been generous
enough to purchase some of these books
and publishers have sent others.

I was fortunate enough to earn a G.E.D.
My pieces have won the Fielding Dawson
New Voices for Poetry award

in 2004 and three second-place prizes
from PEN American Center.
My work has been selected and published

by PEN International; the Iowa Review
published by the University of Iowa;
Limestone, published by the University

of Kentucky; and the Gadfly, published
by Madisonville Community College.
I am a Rhema Correspondence Bible School graduate

and hope to attend a college or university someday.
I am a Chocolate-Heart and Forget-Me-Not kind of guy.
I am considerate, easygoing, gentle,

humorous, plainspoken, practical, optimistic,
reliable, sincere, trustworthy, and a good
listener who is understanding. I don't take anyone

or anything for granted and I don't play head
or heart games. I love children and am fond of animals,
especially horses. I enjoy amusement parks,

art galleries, beaches, boats, book-worming,
cooking out, football, ice-skating, movies,
museums, NASCAR, swimming, and water-skiing.

I like country, rock, and rhythm and blues music.
Nowadays, I have a sunny disposition.
I am seated cross-legged and slouched in a plastic chair

at the desk in my cell as these pent-up words
pour out of me. Outside the window a passenger
plane crosses the bluebell sky. Occasionally

I drum my big, thick fingers on the desktop
as Kelly Pickler and Taylor Swift sing
"The Best Days of Your Life," or Reba sings "Consider Me,"

while my mind wanders back to what was.
I wonder what might have been, or is it to be
like when I meet the parole board.

I will be straightforward with you. I need new friends,
hope for love, and getting caught up in a spin
of romantic daydreams. There are many different

forms and degrees of love. A loving friendship
is as priceless as an intimate love.
I want the fairy tale, like the character

Julia Roberts played in "Pretty Woman."
But, remember, a friendship must come first.
Besides, it's like Dianna Ross sang, "You Can't Hurry Love."

However, should the force of love draw us together
like two lodestones, and I am granted parole,
I will be happy to relocate anywhere.

I'd cherish nothing more than your correspondence.
I would like us to become confidantes.
Then we can share out dreams, hopes, ideas, interest,

opinions, and swap stores. So tell me
about yourself. I am waiting for your reply
and for us to become acquainted.

Affectionately,

Joe Ricky Knight #100202
Green River Correctional Complex
PO Box 9300
Central City, KY 42330-9300

Print me a letter
Send me an email

Listed: 01/17/10

© Conpals LLC • Home