I looked up 

And I saw Silver County Justice.

 

Momma looked up

And she saw her young black son,

On a path to wrongful judgement.

 

I looked through the door

Saw a county police officer,

And the man who thought

I wronged his daughter.

 

Momma looked through the door

Saw two men,

Who could think of nothing better,

But for another black boy to rot in a cell.

 

I walked into the justice room

Saw the man who would judge me right,

The other who would fight for my rights,

And all the other people,

Who would know I was never there that night.

 

Momma walked into the justice room

Saw a man yearning to go to the Silver County bar

and drink shots,

Guilty or not,

A man who didn’t know my name,

Til 5 minutes ago,

And all the other people who just assumed

I was the monster who killed that man’s daughter.

 

Here I am again,

30 years later

Finally free,

From one jail.

 

But still stuck. in the same one,

I’ll never get to leave.

Watching a strong,

Black boy’s mother,

Hold him in her trembling arms,

 

For the very last time.