Jeremy sits in the sun and he stares at the stripes

On the floor from the bars on the door,

Thinking of rabbits he kept as a child

In a chicken wire cage; he remembers the rage

Of his father the night he made his one call;

The relative stranger who left him to fall

To the mercy of judges with no shield at all.

Now he sits and he stares at the punishing wall.

Jeremy picks up the crayon he saved and he

Writes in the dark and he thinks of the park

And the flowers he gave to the girl with the bells.

He remembers he smile; it was gone at the trial.

Hear the footsteps of night guards patrolling the halls.

There are coughers and talkers who don't sleep at all.

'Midst the cursewords and worse words

That someone had scrawled

He writes her a poem on the punishing wall.

Mary, sweet Mary, it's dark and it's cold;

It's all of the stories you've ever been told.

Keep the jar on the window, keep the lock on the door.

keep your mind on the man; keep away from the store.

Oh, Jeremy gentle, oh, Jeremy kind

As you walk with the thieves and the killers believe

That our numbers are growin'; the change has to come.

Put resentment aside; don't turn bitter and die