Behind These Fences

Fences exist in many forms. In the American Dream, they are white picket. For E. L., his are tall and topped with razor wire. However, regardless of their form, fences serve to separate. They cordon off space and dictate where we can and cannot be. In some cases, they are built in ways that dictate what we can and cannot see. Fences never speak to us. They never urge us toward empathy or bring us closer. Fortunately, there is a gift that we all possess that enables us to reach through any barrier and connect with one another. We have our words.



In this collection, E. L. reminds us that no matter who we are, or where we are, our words have the power to lay claim to our experiences as human beings. I first met E. L. in the summer of 2016 when I began volunteering at Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Northeast Ohio. While our lives differ in many ways, his writing consistently reminds me of the universal truths that we all face. E. L.'s pieces speak to us through love, hurt, hopes and dreams, and a search for truth and meaning. Let them speak to you and your life. Let them speak to your world, to E. L.'s world. Let them speak to our world.