Katie Ford is a Talk to Me and Discovery class facilitator at the GEO Lockhart prison. She also emcees the orientation and graduations each semester. For two years, she served as the Truth Be Told program coordinator at Lockhart. The following piece is something she put together for a public reading at The Continental Gallery in Austin, where a group of musicians, poets and writers were invited to share original work on a common theme. The evening’s theme was “Safety.”

Think about the last time you sat down with a good friend, or a few good friends, and had one of those conversations in which you feel genuinely inspired by what the others are saying — and when you have something to say, you feel heard, understood — or at least accepted.

That feeling of really being connected with others.

And perhaps that conversation leaves you in awe — of…