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Cradled in Paradise by Lelia Thomas

Prison gates hold back the sun
And cast vertical bars upon the floor—
Gray and yellow, gray and yellow.
But I know that today I am free.
These bars will no longer hold
And doors shall be opened.

When first I step into the day,
I shall fall upon the ground
And thank my God for freedom.
For a new chance in this world,
A new opportunity that’s held
In my hands, not a court’s.

People see this world as dirty
And tainted beyond measure,
But I see where the filth
Is held by paradise, where
The smog is really clouds
And cars are truly horses.

To every coin, I see two sides,
The beautiful and the repulsive.
In the filth that is cradled by
Paradise, I choose the beauty
Among the refuse; and I,
Now a free man, shall live as such.

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Written in 2004. Some people call our hells paradise.