Quiet, respectful

cleanly and neat

keeps to himself

but cannot be released

for something he did

long, long ago

before his voice deepened

before he had grown

he regrets it a lot

we don’t doubt that he does

everyday he works hard

to reform who he was

but we just can’t get over

the offense he committed

twenty years, thirty years

how much time enough is it

what is life, what is death

when is punishment ended

what makes forty years better

than a straight up death sentence

will it change what he’s done

will it make us feel better

will it stop other kids

or just make him a debtor

from one institution to another he’ll go

from a hard life in prison

to a soft old-folk’s home

That’s if he survives

life expectancy’s lower

could get stabbed in the shower

or stomped to death on the floor

But when all’s said and done

we just keep coming back

to the crime he committed

you can’t blame us for that

for his victim had not

one more second of life

nor his family to know

what it might have been like

Second chances are nice

were it us, we’d say give it

but it’s not our lives

and it’s not our kid, is it?

So no matter how quiet

or respectful and neat

or how much he has changed

he cannot be released