The prison system, inherently unjust and inhumane is the ultimate expression of injustice and inhumanity in the society at large. Those of us on the outside do not like to think of wardens and guards as our surrogates, yet they are. And they are intimately locked in a deadly embrace with their human captives behind prison walls. By extension, so are we. The terrible double meaning is thus imparted to the original question of human ethics, "Am I my brother's keeper?".
The second of February, 1980 began three days of misery
A scene of retaliation, epitomizing violence, horror, and vindication
Thieves, murderers and rapists inundated their prison like homicidal sadists
Guards and convicts alike would pay the price to them the electric chair would look like paradise
Only degradation, torture and cremation would suffice
A sea of agony rolled in like the coming of the tide
The more fortunate escaped the insanity through suicide
The screams of the dying would haunt the living to the grave
Survivors of the riot relive the nightmare every day
The last act of defiance
The last act of defiance
With a never-ending appetite, barbiturates set them off like dynamite
Eradicating informants, acetylene torches dealt the punishment
Melted from skin to bone, the fire silenced their screams to moans
Smoke filled the air from bodies set aflame, begging for mercy but their words were spoken in vain
They weren't allowed to perish until they cherished all the pain
A sea of agony rolled in like the coming of the tide
The more fortunate escaped the insanity through suicide
The screams of the dying would haunt the living to the grave
Survivors of the riot relive the nightmare every day
The last act of defiance
The last act of defiance
Guards they had taken hostage, were to blame for pushing them over the edge
Their brutality would be their demise, like sharks in a frenzy they lashed out at their prize
When the madness had ended, the gore was too intense to be comprehended
No one explained the real reason why for cruelty of a few, so many should die
They knew of the flaws, but still insist the cause was justified
A sea of agony rolled in like the coming of the tide
The more fortunate escaped the insanity through suicide
The screams of the dying would haunt the living to the grave
Survivors of the riot relive the nightmare every day
The last act of defiance
The last act of defiance
