National Poetry Month: A Poem of Promise, A Poem of Despair

To help us celebrate National Poetry Month, the Innocence Blog asked readers to share with us their poetry about justice. The response has been overwhelming. Thank you to all of you who have submitted your work. Your poetry has been inspiring.

Today, we are featuring two poems by Innocence Blog readers. The first poem is titled Prevail and was written by Jessica Romano. The second poem is titled Justice For David: A Wrongful Conviction and was written by Juanita Haley. Thank you, Jessica and Juanita, for reaching out and sharing your beautiful poems with us.

If you’ve written poems about justice that you’d like to share, please send them to poetrymonth@innocenceproject.org or comment below. We may feature your piece on the Innocence Blog and social media.

Prevail

Those who are never accused
Do not realize how it changes you
Even if exonerated, you are never really excused
Like the loss of the victim, you have lost too
The ache and the pain never end
Even when freedom is gained
The support and prayers help you mend
But somewhere the hurt still remains
We think of our justice system
As being fair and right
When jurors go home, it’s over for them
The innocent are left in the dark of the night
Away from your loved ones
All you can hope for is that one day, you won’t have to fight
That you will finally get to see the sun
Time lost, you can never get back
Let your hopes and dreams never fail
Don’t give up, you cannot crack
Always believe that the truth will prevail

– Jessica Romano

Justice For David: A Wrongful Conviction

The days have come
and gone.
The months have now
become years.
Will he ever come
back home?
Is his day of justice near?
Will these days ever end
with more than just our tears?
God knows
I miss him.
God knows
he’s innocent.
God knows our strength is
becoming harder to pretend.
God knows.

– Juanita Haley

Related: National Poetry Month: A Poem for Justice by Innocence Project Client Leroy Harris