They Never Jailed My Mind Poem by david lessard

At 15 years of age,
they placed me in a jail,
trying to break my spirit,
attempting to make me fail-
At 17, they did the same,
and put me behind bars,
I didn't see the sky all day,
at night, I saw no stars.

At 21, they locked me up again,
the place just looked familiar,
a place I once had been.

They thought that they
could break me -
to them, I was not kind,
Oh yes- they jailed my body -
But they never jailed my mind.
They couldn't jail my thoughts -
By any man-made bind.

No, they never jailed my mind-
Though the air I breathed was stale-
They never jailed my spirit,
and they never made me fail.