Jeremy sits in the sun and he stares at the stripes
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On the floor from the bars on the door,
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Thinking of rabbits he kept as a child
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In a chicken wire cage; he remembers the rage
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Of his father the night he made his one call;
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The relative stranger who left him to fall
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To the mercy of judges with no shield at all.
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Now he sits and he stares at the punishing wall.
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Jeremy picks up the crayon he saved and he
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Writes in the dark and he thinks of the park
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And the flowers he gave to the girl with the bells.
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He remembers he smile; it was gone at the trial.
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Hear the footsteps of night guards patrolling the halls.
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There are coughers and talkers who don't sleep at all.
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'Midst the cursewords and worse words
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That someone had scrawled
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He writes her a poem on the punishing wall.
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Mary, sweet Mary, it's dark and it's cold;
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It's all of the stories you've ever been told.
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Keep the jar on the window, keep the lock on the door.
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keep your mind on the man; keep away from the store.
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Oh, Jeremy gentle, oh, Jeremy kind
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As you walk with the thieves and the killers believe
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That our numbers are growin'; the change has to come.
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Put resentment aside; don't turn bitter and die
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|
-----------------
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Jeremy
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| Joni Mitchell |
