All right, this is Mr. Steven Nicholson again here in Jackson, Michigan. This is actually a poem I am putting in the front of my cover letter for the commutation request that I’m submitting to the MDOC Commutation Board in hopes to receive mercy as I admit my irresponsibility in my situation that I was in. I call this poem “Old Keys.” It’s an artistic expression of growth, self assessment and life’s challenges.
Old Keys
Stop, step back, take a look and assess the situation.
We have a broken nation.
Part of this dilapidation is the crumbling crisis of incarceration.
Liberation is escaping those ready to be assets to our nation,
While the discharge of criminal mindsets revolve the prison doors,
Creating circulation.
This creation is not for a lack of effort regarding rehabilitation.
I do believe the powers that be intended for restoration
And recuperation for the afflicted and the victims.
Yet somehow, those ready for implementation of restoration
to help fix a broken nation they help with creating,
Are held captive as if held for ransom.
Yet many of these were cancers, instead of the answers,
God created them to be
Many circumstances muddied past
For so many to live successfully,
But grace and restoration is how God founded this country.
And rehabilitation was always a key.
That was the point of the penitentiary.
Penance, please.
Penance is the key,
A key chance,
A key factor in helping society advance
Despite a broken past.
Some of the keys thrown away
Still have a way to save the day, if given a chance.
A key for success is knowing the past,
So you’re not doomed to repeat
That which has shattered the past.
Parenthetically, in case of emergency,
Break the glass.
This is an emergency, and those old keys are needed
To break the glass.
Simply inserting a key don’t always work so fast.
Free at last.
Free at last.
Thank God Almighty, we can be free at last.
That’s “Old Keys.”
These commentaries are recorded by Prison Radio.
