Poetry from behind bars

Stillwater prison
The men's state prison in Stillwater, Minnesota.
MPR Photo/Dan Olson

Crime impacts people in different ways -- whether you're a victim, a resident in a crime-ridden neighborhood, a friend or relative of a victim -- or a perpetrator.

We're going to hear from a criminal -- a murderer, in fact, serving a life sentence in Stillwater. David Doppler tries to come to grips with his crime and his life in prison by writing and performing poetry.

In one poem, "Dust's Dust," Doppler looks from an inmate's perspective at how criminals are made -- both by prison itself, and by the stoicism of the world they come from.

Doppler talked with MPR's Jeff Horwich about his crime and about his poetry.

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