Cold Bars of Steel is my home
now.
A man of rage and anger, now
alone with no place of my own.
Lost in a world of darkness
and the cold.
One night I prayed and I saw
a light and felt warm inside.
I asked Jesus into my heart.
Lights flashed in my head,
where I slept on concrete for my bed.
I used to fight all the time,
because I'm doing time.
A heart of stone cold steel,
now with the love of a dove.
The pain in life that got me
here, is not all gone.
But now I have hope, and in
that hope life gets better by the day because I pray.
In the steps of a mad one without
a mind of his own,
now peace has taken a hold
of me.
I forgave someone yesterday,
but I forgot to forgive myself.
Then something took a hold of
me and shook me like a tree.
It is never too late to pray.
Life is real and so is my pain.
I got down and prayed to God,
and so it made it a better day.
Faith is a strange word to me.
Love your enemies, sometimes
I forget.
But this is not my life alone,
and I forget so easily.
I know what you think, that
I am a fool,
but it could be you with a
home of concrete and steel.
But you can pray for a better
day and let love in.
You are as free as a dove and
pray and love each other.
So change is better than chains!
By David Gates
Idaho State Prison
2003