Thoughts in Jail

Prisoners are we, American citizens imprisoned For daring in the name of Democracy To protest against the continued denial Of the right of self-government To twenty millions of the American people. We lie in a dungeon Long ago abandoned and condemned, Just as politically we are held Imprisoned in a subjection Abandoned and condemned By every other nation of English speech and spirit. Painfully raising my head, I look down the long row Of gray-blanketed heaps. Under every heap a woman, Weak, sick, but determined, Twenty gray fortresses of determination.