I wonder as I drive by and see the warning

“Inmates At Work”,

What did they do to be enslaved?

Permitted to work unhindered by chains,

Supervised by unarmed guards,

Yet still not free to return home after a days work

They are prisoners none-the-less.

I pity them

And pray that this serves as a lesson learned.

Dressed in blaze orange jumpsuits

They are held up as a spectacles, less than human,

Humiliated publicly as part of their punishment.

What was the crime that revoked their freedom

Placing them in the counties charge?

These women…

Most young with full lives ahead of them

Will bear a badge of shame that will haunt them,

Taking away the promise of their futures

Until the day they die.

Having paid for their digression means little

As the weight of incarceration will shadow them all of their days.

Should we not show greater mercy and forgiveness,

Have we not all deviated at one time or another from what is considered just.

I have, of that I am certain, but by luck I remained free.

As a very wise Man once said,

“Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

I for one have placed my stone firmly on the ground.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~