Innocent, yet
Arrested, tried, convicted

Imprisoned

Abandoned in the cold, sadistic embrace that is Shawshank
Left to face
the silence of long nights alone in the darkness
the pain of being beaten for simply existing
the despair that comes from being failed by justice
and trapped in a pace that has none

Life has become as maggoty and unappetizing as the food
No light can penetrate the shadows in mens souls
No hope will pass the brutal, hulking gates
No music has ever played in these halls
and nights last for days

However, some birds are not meant to be caged
Their colors are just too bright

A hopeful new lease on life
Has arrived
Now men are earning their high school diplomas
Now money is flowing in
Now Rita Hayworth hides her secret on the wall
and a geologist is removing the impurities from those around him

Freedom has taken wing
from the mouth of a river of human waste
And the hope
The hope has taken flight