Prison Instruction — Memo from the Principal (a found poem)
Jesse Doiron
September 6, 2026
To: Teachers
From: Principal of Inmate Instruction
Re.: Various / Classroom Discipline
I am sending 6 boxes of 12 pencils each, today. Do not let the inmates keep these pencils. Pick all of them up after class.
They can be used as lethal weapons
inside and outside the classroom,
especially if the inmates learn
how to write well.
Along with the pencils, I am sending 1 pkg of 500-count loose-leaf notebook paper and 3 pkgs. of 150-count loose-leaf notebook paper. At the beginning of fall courses, I left 5 pkgs. of 100-count loose-leaf notebook paper.
Why the different counts?
Why loose-leaf?
Can they keep the paper they do not use in class?
Who ended up with all the loose paper from the fall?
Be careful in the distribution of paper and pencils. DO NOT ALLOW THE INMATES TO HAND OUT PAPER. Please hand out paper only in the amount needed – not wanted. The prison administration inquires when large amounts of paper are used quickly.
How quick is “quickly” in a prison?
Quick to eat?
Quick to get to the classroom?
Quick to get the toilet permit pass?
Quick to finish the essay assignment?
Quick to get shanked with a pencil?
Quick to stanch the bleeding with loose-leaf notebook paper?
Quick to pick up all the blood-stained pencils and blood-soaked
paper?
Paper and pencils are only to be used for classroom assignments and projects. Inmates should not bring unused paper or any pencils back to their housing. Paper and pencils leaving the Education Facility are contraband and will be confiscated.
So –
No weapons?
No dope?
No booze?
No pornography?
No paper money?
No playing cards?
No dice?
No homework compositions?
Thank you for cooperating,
Principal of Prison Instruction
There is a principle of Prison Instruction –
Never teach an inmate enough to escape
imprisonment – physically or mentally.
Jesse Doiron has worked in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia as an educator and consultant. His teaching experience ranges from English for international business at the UC – Berkeley Extension in San Francisco to creative writing at the Mark Stiles Maximum Security Prison for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
