In the Eyes of the Law

In the eyes of the law, he was black As black as the ace of spades, not one of them The dreams he carried to this land Were stowed upon the sail ship here Nigeria to Leeds with hope, new life From hunger to plenty, to bias The outcast judged by his skin He faced the torment that broke him When once he stepped out of line To fight back, unleash his bridled fury The coil released, he went too far Now in the echoey white washed room confined He’s choked by pills and electroshock And when he goes, his soul is left behind Crushed by the law, crushed by them all At liberty to walk the streets, unfree Now safe in the hands of police unjust He’s paid with blows and ridicule His beaten body prone and robbed of life He’s found, claimed by the River Aire A broken spirit gone, the dreams disbanded.