You Have a Poem That's First Line as We Were Waiting Without a Name

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Duane Fallon has a new collection of poems. I'd like you to read one of them. You have a poem that's first line as we waited without a name. And after your birth after you entered this world willing like the dragons, your tiny hands reaching for light at the jumbo jets hour. Two words: "I need the will, nor how"

Dwayne Betts was a 16-year-old in solitary confinement when a fellow inmate slid a book of poetry under his cell door. What happened next is an astounding story of transformation: from desperation to the discovery of beauty, even behind bars. Listen as the lawyer, prison reform advocate, and award-winning poet explains to EconTalk host Russ Roberts why he's on a mission to bring books--and beauty--into prisons. They also discuss Betts's latest book, Redaction, a collaboration with the artist Titus Kaphar.