Mon, Jan 8th - 12:45AM

In a Fix

What is a Man to Do?

by Terrance Glover

 

What is a man to do,

when he's guilty until proven innocent?

What is a man to do,

when whatever he says is irrelevant?

 

What is a man  to do,

when the world is not believing?

What is a man to do,

when cruelty is what he's receiving?

 

What is a man to do,

When is back is against the wall?

What is a man to do,

when only getting one phone call?

 

What is a man to do,

when those who judge point him in the face?

What is a man to do,

when it seems no hope to win the case?

 

What is a man to do,

tossing and turning throughout the night?

What is a man to do,

when his hands are tied and it's time to fight?

 

What is a man to do?

It's simple, yet easy to afford.

What is a man to do,

but give it all to the Lord? 

 

     I met Terrance Glover in 1993, when both of us were locked up in Arapahoe County Jail, Littleton Colorado, each waiting to be sent to our assigned state prison.  I was released nearly six years later, but Terrance is still in the prison system, with possibly only a few years to go.  My ex-wife, Kathie still keeps contact with Terrance and has given me glowing reports of how he has changed for the better during these past years of his incarceration.  He would be the exception, as most become more and more hardened in similar circumstances.  God is so gracious to those who truly call upon Him!

     This poem, as you can see, expresses in a very simply and beautiful way, the feelings of someone caught in the jaws of a very impersonal, and often unjust legal system.  The press reports to us the more sensational and sometimes grotesque crimes committed in our communities, and our sense of justice is rightly aroused.  But many crimes today were not considered as such in the recent past, and a certain indiscriminate harshness seems to pervade the justice system presently.  In America, we incarcerate  many more per population than in any other country.  Interestingly, in one county here in Colorado, Fremont, a higher concentration of imprisoned persons exists than anywhere else on the earth.  There are at least nine adult state prisons in Canon City (Fremont County), and one large federal prison complex in neighboring Florence, Colorado.  The reasons for this high proportion of prisoners in America are complex, but I believe there are simple solutions that are often overlooked for political and social reasons.  In the end, however, God is not limited by prison walls.