David Slater

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The Best Poem Of David Slater

The Prisoner

Big Dan stands on a dark and dusty platform,
Steel chains bind his hands and his feet,
For his sins he must atone, work his fingers to the bone,
The boys in blue got a bad man off the street,
The cops have got a black man off the street.

And Dan said 'Judge, I was minding my own business,
'When a drunken sailor threw a fist at me,
'And when did self-defense become a capital offence,
'These charges don't make sense, can't you see?
'I am innocent of this crime, please set me free.'

The Judge rejected all of Dan's defenses,
'You hit him hard, he fell and now he's dead,
'No matter what you say, you're gonna have to pay,
'You're lucky there ain't a noose around your head,
'You're going to the hoosegow till you're dead.'

Dan left behind a wife and baby daughter,
They sobbed and wept the day he had to leave,
With a tear in his eye, he turned to say goodbye,
His daughter's tiny hand upon his sleeve,
His baby's hand a'clutching at his sleeve.

Now the train is slowing down at the platform,
It's horn is sounding lonely in the night,
Dan's jailers move him on, in a moment he is gone,
The tail light fading slowly out of sight,
That red light growing smaller in the night.

And yes there'll be appeals of that we're certain,
Those lawyers seem to love their day in court,
And despite the hours they bill, Dan will eat his prison swill,
And never get the justice that he sought,
He'll be robbed of the rights for which he fought.

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