to keep your mind as focused as possible so you don't -- every time you come in here, it takes a piece of you. i don't want it to take a piece of me where i don't have who i am anymore. >> it makes you question religion. it makes you question politics. it makes you question anything you ever believed in. >> prison life can be especially hard for inmates like 24-year-old romeo hardin. >> my original conviction i came to prison at 15 years old for felony murder. and my sentence is life without possibility of parole. so, if i don't get any justice through the penal system, then i will die right here in this prison, probably in this cage. >> when he is not exercising, hardin spends his time writing poetry. >> poetry is one of the things that helps me cope with my confinement. it's like you can escape through your words, maybe no one hears them but you have them.