Shackles on my Feet

They dumped me along with thieves and thugs

A lot that I didn’t deserve

They’ve driven out my very humanness

A quality, I thought, I could preserve

The great and mighty, law and order

Put me behind bars

For merely trying to survive

I’m now covered in a million scars!

What other option did I have?

To feed those hungry mouths

To save their mother, my poor sister

From those drunk and angry clouts?

I spent many years wondering,

Was stealing really a crime?

When you needed a piece of bread to eat

And hadn’t even a dime?

“This isn’t the place for me”,

I tried to state my case,

But they turned a deaf ear on me

And I could only plead for God’s grace.

I was sentenced for three years.

Wasn’t that a bit too much?

The feeling of remorse grew within me

And I longed for a human touch.

The walls around me grew smaller and smaller

At last, I could bear it no more.

I escaped at every chance I saw

And sought freedom’s shore.

But I wasn’t meant to flee so easily

They clapped me back in chains,

The tiny window of hope disappeared

And doubled up my pains.

If Fate it was, I would accept

And learn to pay my dues,

To do what was expected of me,

And cry away my blues.

After more than a decade passed,

They granted me reprieve.

A clean shirt on my hardened back;

And an identity on my sleeve.

My heart thumping hard in my chest

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

After the years in the dark dungeons

I could finally admire the blue skies.

This was the moment I had awaited

The freedom for which I longed

Forward bound, anxiously stepping

Into the world to which I had belonged.

As I stepped out, a million eyes

Would turn around and stare,

I told them I was innocent

But they didn’t so much as care!

No one remembered Jean Valjean now,

I was to be 24601.

I was to have the shadow of my past follow,

And not given the chance of a day in the sun.

I looked around for a decent wage

Declaring honest work,

The moment I handed over my identity

They didn’t need a moment to shirk.

They said I was a parolee after all,

One they couldn’t trust;

Who would employ a former convict?

To live as an outcast now, was a must!

With no pennies to sustain

I asked the inn keeper to spare some food

One look at the yellowed document and he said,

“Do you take me for a fool?”

My crime has been small, my burden heavy

Both did not even compare

With the consequences I had been living with

And those I had been forced to bear.

As nightfall drew near, I looked around

For a place to rest my weary head.

“No!” was the answer I got at every door

“We cannot offer you a bed.”

Drained of life and dignity

I crawled into a kennel as a last resort,

The canine turned human that night.

Bit me, chased me and left me all for naught…

I stumbled through the dark night

Looking for a place to rest

Even a convict deserves some kindness, I thought,

A meagre shelter, at best?

While the last glimmer of hope faded

A dwelling place seemed to appear

A single knock at the door was answered

By an old maid who looked out in fear

“Step aside. Let him in”’

A voice called from beyond

“Don’t you see he’s frail and worn

And needs a shoulder to lean on?”

The old cleric clothed and fed me

And even vacated his humble room

He didn’t know me, yet welcomed me

A needy man, did he presume?

When all were sound asleep but I

I took in my surroundings, a house of bricks

A humble dwelling it appeared

Except for a pair of golden candlesticks

Though I had denied being a thief so far

I was ashamed at the first thought that broke through

“Those candlesticks could give me new life,

No 24601 hitherto.”

Silently, I made it through the night

Arms laden, planning the sale

Guilt-ridden though I was

I couldn’t afford to leave a trail

As dawn and the next county drew near

The authorities accosted me

They heaved me all the way back to the cleric

And asked, “Are these candlesticks your property?”

I didn’t want to be 24601 again

Living that life was hell

This time, I really was a thief, I was dishonest,

I could almost hear my death knell!

“Yes, I gave them to him,” the cleric replied

With a kindly smile that shrouded the wrinkles

“He needed them more than I”

And dismissed them with a twinkle.

As they parted, on my knees, I fell,

Sobbing with tears of relief

“I don’t deserve your saving grace,

I am a dishonest thief.”

“Every sinner can be forgiven”,

Came his gentle reply.

“I would never be able to repay you

Until the day I die,” said I.

“Pass on this act of kindness

To another person in need.

The greatest trees that branch out

Begin with a tiny seed.”

I swore to him, to myself and God,

From this vow I would never retreat

To practise kindness in word and deed

Finally free of shackles on my feet.