Jeremy sits in the sun
And he stares at the stripes on the floor
From the bars on the door
Thinking of rabbits he kept as a child
In a chicken wire cage

He remembers the rage of his father
The night he made his one call
The relative stranger who left him to fall
To the mercy of judges with no shield at all
Now he sits and he stares at the punishing wall

Mary, sweet Mary, it's dark and it's cold
It's all of the stories you've ever been told
Keep the jar on the window, keep the lock on the door
Keep your mind on the man, keep away from the store

Jeremy picks up the crayon he saved
And he writes in the dark and he thinks of the park
And the flowers he gave to the girl with the bells
He remembers her smile, it was gone at the trial

Hear the footsteps of night guards patrolling the halls
There are coughers and talkers who don't sleep at all
Midst the curse words and worse words that someone had scrawled
Now he writes her a poem on the punishing wall

Jeremy gentle, oh, Jeremy kind
As you walk with the thieves and the killers
Believe that our numbers are growing
The change has to come, put resentment aside
Don't turn bitter and die