Wrongfully Imprisoned
His word against the witnesses. The jury must decide.
Whom to believe, the question. They voted he had lied.
Locked up behind steel bars, to be left there for his life,
He lost those he left behind, his children and his wife.
He professed his innocence. His denials never wavered.
Whenever he made an appeal, it was stamped unfavored.
At long last he quit trying, accepting his sad fate.
He tried only to stay sane, not to be consumed by hate.
He wished they’d executed him in dreaded electric chair.
Dying would be much better than this life so hard to bear.
After twenty years, his innocence was proven by DNA.
It was an aged and broken man who was set free that day.
He left with his few possessions but he didn't know to where.
Copyright © Joyce Johnson | Year Posted 2012
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