Warden Van ran his jail with

coolness and elan

he went to pick flowers

from his little garden

and put them safe away

he believed in inmate freedom

he often let them play

yes, he thought to himself,

I am a man with a plan

some flowers died, that didn’t

worry him much

it may sound odd to relate to you

that he always buried the flowers

but not in his garden

that was a special place beside

the jail where

he never mixed life with

death

sometimes the others

would search and search

for days

then he kept himself

occupied in many different ways

eventually the search would end

he felt free to return to the garden

and reap rewards he’d earned

the garden was weeded and kept

so clean and nice

he never let weeds grow wild

to him it was a place to pick

flowers bright,

flowers others called

their children, their brothers, their daughters

the jail was kept by Warden Van

neat as a place can be

I guess you might say that Warden

Van was the man with a plan.

© Sam Hyde

   08-16-09