Volume 22, Number 2 of the Journal of Prisoners on Prisons is a general issue edited by Professor Susan Nagelsen (New England College) and Charles Huckelbury, who is an award winning author and former prisoner.

This volume of the JPP looks at the aging process inside prisons, where every problem is amplifi ed by the prisoner's age. From the changing nature of dreams, valiant attempts to forestall mental decline, and thwarted attempts to access education, to the pain of watching children grow up without them, and the impossibility of adequate care in their declining years, prisoners share the desperation of growing old behind bars. Even in the stultifying environment of prison, however, personal growth can and does fl ourish and prisoners can contribute in many ways. Is the person who committed a crime in 1965 or 1985 still the same person in 2005? The resilience of the human spirit and the power of time, even in the absence of any other encouragement towards rehabilitation, have proven themselves over and over again. But even "model prisoners" are permanently held suspect. What kind of justice system have we constructed when even professed Christians no longer believe in redemption and forgiveness? "Godot never arrived, and Vladimir and Estragon only grew older while they waited."

Charles Huckelbury transcends the bounds of his confinement in Distant Thunder, illuminating the darkest corners of the human condition. In poignant verse etched in delicate detail, Huckelbury exposes the depths of despair and the miracle of enduring hope.

Chandra Bozelko's Up the River Anthology projects many voices. But it is Bozelko's voice that harmonizes the discordant and disconcerting fragments of our criminal justice system. She examines her life as a prison inmate in this riveting poetry collection. Up the River presents a deadly theater. Bozelko writes about personal, damning, damaging experiences through the eyes of the supporting players of prison life. Her characters act out their roles on this rigid, often tyrannical stage. Full of heart, Bozelko's collection leaves us to wonder not, what did she do? but rather, what have we done?

We have found our modern day Chaucer in the hands of the poet Charles Huckelbury. Here "the baddest bouncer in the / baddest bar" - Little David, part medieval knight, part "Jesse goddamn James," part "Leonidas before the Persians" - narrates a series of tales that will leave you laughing and weeping at the spectacle of humanity in all its guises, from bikers to castaways, from strippers to real estate salesmen, from queens to dope fiends. Huckelbury finds poetry in the most surprising of places, and ultimately reminds us how the ache of loss keeps us searching for beauty and meaning.