For years, I be in the state pen,
To be exact . . . more than ten.
They reversed my sentence and then
They let me out.
We had this big, big white guy in the pen.
He say, “I could never get thin.”
He eat little bitty grits and drink coffee every day.
“Damn you look good,” his mama say.
“What burnt that weight away?”
They made us walk six hours,
You be so tired, you too weak to go shower.
So you shower at the commode in your cell, you see?
(after you clean it with cleanser)
That’s how tired you be.
That’s a birdbath, but you be clean.
Not clean as you want, but y’know,
That’s how it is
When life’s a bit mean.
