Manslaughter First Degree

I stand and watch inside this prison gate, Wondering how I got here, was this to be my fate? I only did what any man would do, While trying to protect his family from people like you. All through life I kept my record clean, I followed the laws I never made a scene. Then one night I heard a noise in our house, I went to investigate, thinking it was probably a mouse. Then I came face to face with a man all dressed in black, Taking stuff from my house and putting it in his sack. Almost immediately my blood got hot, We started to wrestle right on the spot. He was fighting with all he had and so was I, He was trying to kill me, but I wasn’t quite ready to die. I picked up something from the floor and I hit him hard some where on his head, I hit him maybe a little too hard cause now he’s dead. They took me to court and charged me with manslaughter in the first degree, They said he was a victim of circumstances, well what about me? They said he had lost his job and was only trying to provide for his family, And that it was okay what he had done to me. So here I am behind these prison walls for at least ten years, My wife and children now with no protection, the worst of my fears. I have no remorse for what I’ve done, My only regret was I didn’t have a gun.