Who Pays?

He is a wicked youth, so they have said, A convict whose conscience is dead. They do not probe for what lies within, Or ask wherefore and why he fell into sin.

They are blind to his need of a kindly word, And only know what they have read and heard. They insist that he suffer for doing a wrong, But the prisoner pleads, For how long? How long?

What a fraudulent cure is the prison cage! A destroyer of good, and a breeder of rage. Yet people nod wisely, feeling righteous and smug, So a youth enters prison -- and comes out a thug!