If you read my “What I Learned In Prison This Morning” blog, this will make more sense. This poem was written by one of my buddies that I’ve gotten to know over the years while going out there. He’s an amazing man, incredibly brilliant and insightful. It’s been an honor to be a part of his journey. Here are his thoughts, which he says were inspired by our discussions.

LAKE OF FIRE by Lucas Larson

Your Hell is designed through an absence of Graces
A lack of God’s love filling vacuous spaces
Your Hell’s at a distance, a nebulous thought
A place circumvented through battles well fought

My Hell is right now and it’s painfully near
It’s concrete and wire, and loss drenched with fear
It’s what I can’t touch
And what I can’t see
It’s what I can’t smell
And what I can’t be

Restrained and disdained by a state-sanctioned hate
The cared for and careless disjoined at the gate
For ceaseless torment, it’s a perfect prescription
Mix proximate hopes with a hopeless affliction
It’s the essence of love that’s excluded by fences
It’s an absence of living, deprived of the senses

Your Hell is designed through an absence of Grace
My Hell is defined by this God-awful place