Song Of A Caged Bird

Worked the soil like an adult as a child
Where was help to find me?
Quietus whisked the breadwinner of my household
Life bred me solely for bread
I either fended for the self or got fed on by death
It was farewell; society couldn’t afford welfare
Conscience was humbled by instincts to survive
Hunger swallowed empathy
To eat, I had to teach myself to cheat
I killed to live,
Fathering orphans and widows
Was given no yarn to knit a social fabric
Chastised for what I sewed with what I had,
My name and face sit in the prints
‘The notorious nut that terrorized many’
A sheep, forced into a wolf’s clothing
All that my mother saw before her eyes failed was a bright future
She shined my shoes for the journey before my father passed
‘Your neck must break on the noose’ said the judge
Tomorrow is the day I will see no more tomorrows
My future comes to an end a few hours away
I can hear my heart’s beats in my ears
It is so audible; the silence of my accomplice—society
Death sings me a dirge in my cell