Visiting Alcatraz

Visiting a prison
Gives a tiny little taste
Of how a convict takes his life
And has it all erased.

From walking in the open air
To confines of a cell
Must feel like stepping off a cliff
Into a living hell.

No privacy or room to move,
No access to the sky;
Each prisoner must sit and ask
Himself one question - why?

For nothing could be worth the price
That person's gone and paid,
As memories of friends and family
Slowly start to fade.

Though Alcatraz is empty now,
So many jails are filled,
The penance for assorted crimes
And vengeance for those killed.

If criminals could only see
The future they might face,
Perhaps they wouldn't find themselves
In such a somber place.