I speak to you in Jesus's name
As Jesus speaks through me,
The evil we do can't be blamed upon our destiny
I have walked through the valley of death-row to the shore
I have stumbled through silvery water to my savior, my Salvador!
It took me four years to learn
I was in prison not in church.
And two more to begin the book of my soul's search.
Time is an ocean of endless tears
A wild boy from the streets of El Barrio
An orphan from the hills of Mayagez
And when I wrote my story
The words flew from the page
And my soul in solitary
Escaped its iron cage.
Time is an ocean of endless tears
Mama, I got your letter today
The next time that you write I'll be transferred far away.
I'm leaving Greenhaven's towers of stone
Where the Latin population will soon be minus one.
Time is an ocean of endless tears.
I know how hard it's been for you these many years,
You say the Aguinaldo makes you dream of home
Where once we strolled the beach at El Malecon
Go back don't you worry, I am your grown-up son.
The politics of prison are a mirror of the street.
The poor endure oppression
The police control the state.
Correctional facility
That's what they call this place
But look around and you will see
The politics of race.
A forest and a prison
Where the snow and guards are white
If you want to keep your sanity
You'll teach yourself to write.
You were a child of sixteen
With a twelve-year-old mind
You came here numb and batter
