FREE THE WEST MEMPHIS THREE

 

Every freak on the street

Every geek in the room

knows the daily paranoia

like a mutant hothouse flower

living life under a glass

the only one in your class

 

If you're smarter than your classmates

If you're stranger than your peers

you will be pushed away

Because being odd is a crime

you will be convicted

you will be evicted

you shall not be free

 

We must free

the West Memphis Three

 

a knife

a lie

and stupidity

are the ingredients of a conviction

ignorance

fear

and vengeance

are the ingredients of a death penalty

 

Destined to die

Damien denies the lies

Jesse and Jason face only their lives

locked away

 

We must free

the West Memphis Three

 

murder charges are meaningless

when three boys are convicted only

of being different

in a world that needs things the same

in a world that feeds the insane

and starves the good the decent and the fair

that kicks the just and the compassionate

in the teeth

in the head

in the eye

 

yes, it's a kick in the eye

to realize

that what got my ass kicked in high school

got three boys convicted of murder

"they got weird hair"

"they wear black t-shirts"

"they listen to that devil music"

 

We must free

the West Memphis Three

I've been told that justice is blind

but I think instead she's lazy

She won't rise from her bed of nails

She won't rise to the occasion

She doesn't care that these three

were condemned not for any murder

but for the high crime of being different

She ignores the evidence

She is deaf to the pleas

and her blindfold is stapled in place

 

and so it's up to me

and you - it's up to we

to sing for Damien

to shout for Jason

to dance for Jesse

it's up to we

 

We must free

the West Memphis Three

 

We must free

the West Memphis Three

 

(c) David McIntire

 

a link for the West Memphis Three:

http://www.wm3.org/splash.php

 

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