Thirty years after the crime,
a pardon is written.
The prisoner walks free.
No one understands freedom
and humility the same way.
If you have to stay locked in,
stay there. Just barely survive.
Hold your tongue. People don't believe
convicts' stories
about innocence. Not with chains
dogging their steps.
Be strict. Don't imagine you are free.
One day, long after hope is gone,
you will taste a difference
in the air and the light.
Get up. Demand your release.
When the prisoner and the ruler
are the same, the jailer
has no choice. He is also you.
Stay until you are changed.
Then get up and leave.
The good citizens believe they have
freedom, equality.
But you left that pedestrian lifestyle
long ago. You can't return.
There is something in the air that
only stone walls, old mortar,
and bread and water
bring to us.
Don't escape. Leave when your time comes.
Discipline brings a gift. A note is attached:
Set discipline down so you can
accept this gift with both hands.
Copyright 2007 Todd Mertz