THE BIG HOUSE

Tossed behind bars to rot,
For a felony not committed,
Caught trapped in a wrong place,
at a wrong time,
Image tainted, dignity utterly shattered,
Gloomy days and nights go by, each tallied on
the walls of this cage of shame,

Behind these walls, despicable acts are done,
Behind these walls a man is changed,
Behind these walls dogs eat dogs,

What will my children say when asked
the whereabouts of their father?
How will they celebrate me a convict,
Without having to look down in shame?

I didn’t envision I’d be in this position,
I couldn’t imagine I’d ever be in such a situation,
I pray it were all nightmare and I’d soon wake,
My reality is a cruel one,

The stench of wickedness fills the air,
I rub shoulders with cold blooded killers, rapists,
and all the evil there’s to go about,
Most notoroius of people preying
on weaklings,

When I’ve finally served time and I’ve been set free,
I wonder the life I’d return to, if at all I’d have one,
Will my youngest child still remember this face?
Will the love of my life be waiting?
Will my friends accept me back to their circles with
open hands?
Will I still have a job to go back to?

The truth dawns on me, and It’s harsh,
My life is at a standstill but
The world that revolves around
Continues unabatedly,
It doesn’t stop, it doesnt look back
It doesn’t slug, it sprints,
There isn’t catching up,

No redemption for those who come here,
Whether one ultimately abandons the
wrongful ways, reforms
Whether one is innocent or not,
Society judges aIl convicts the same,
Convicts are dubbed misfits, the
embodiment of sin, the condemmed,
once you’ve visited the big house, there isn’t coming
back.