To Mr. A Who Is Still In Prison Poem by RIC BASTASA

i heard it from your sister
you will be serving 4-8 years
(i shall not ask why, what crime,
whether you were justly judged)
but this i wonder, why you give up
anymore that possibility of freedom.
you did not tell me, you instructed
your sister not to tell,
but now i know it all.

there must be something inside you
that wants to prove something, this
mandela thing, and those who once
spent their years behind bars.

i may visit you sometime and it will
be a great surprise, and i will ask you
if there is still hope in our system.