Debt to Society

My friend penned a great letter for me,
To the governor requesting my clemency;
Extolled my virtues - - made me shine;
And it was all true, until the last line.

“She’s paid her debt to society.”
She wrote with solid authority.
I stopped in my tracks - - to re-read;
What debt?  I did no dasterly deed.

I’m innocent of this horrendous crime;
I’ve hollered this since the beginning of time;
And if in my innocence you don’t believe,
How can you stand by me - - not run to leave?

I’d be a murderer and a liar;
Damned to fry in Hell’s hot fire;
I would have killed my children’s dear dad;
No rhyme or reason I ever could have had.

Just to set the record right,
I also was a victim that stormy night;
An intruder snatched my husband’s life.
And left me a widow, no longer a wife.

Wrongful convictions do happen, ya know;
The advent of DNA began to show.
That no all inmates belong in jail.
If someone would listen to their honest tale.

So don’t talk about me paying my debt;
True justice and mercy I beg to get.
I’m paying for someone else’s crime;
So far, more than 20 years of my lifetime.

And if protests and crying would set things straight,
I’d scramble full speed out this gate.
The perpetrator, if this were  a Perry Mason show,
Would have stood up and confessed a long time ago.

But my story’s not fiction - - it’s too real,
I should have accepted that plea  bargain deal!


Patricia Prewitt
January 18, 2007