Justice on Trial

I did not foresee it would come to this With innocence required to reconcile Although it is me standing in this dock Justice is the one that now stands trial Within these veneered, judicious halls Your Honour I would open my defence With nothing but the truth and integrity Without mendacity, drama, or pretence I stand here accused before my peers Of such crimes which I did not commit I request only that which I am entitled Should entitlement be naught, so be it If justice should not to be done this day If I am sentenced to languish in a cell Such travesty would not be forever hid And the sordid truth, history would tell I stand here because of those who lied Who would see an innocent man in jail Who would dance in delight if convicted Whose morals are low beyond the pale Permit those who tell the truth to testify Let those without malice take the stand Let the jury listen to them bear witness And so a not guilty verdict Il‘ll demand But alas, the cowards stand in silence For fear of the reprisals that may follow Assurances they gave came to nothing The troths they pledged now ring hollow So the jury has seen fit to find me guilty With but hearsay and without evidence May the demons of Hell take your souls As I go now to serve my long sentence I despise those who bore false witness But you who stood in silence are worse I will not see freedom before I am dead Then you will bear a dead mans curse