To condemn it in a sentence: "It was women, wine and gold!"
If you read this book with caution, you have read between the lines,
Learning much the careless reader and the critic ne'er divines!
You have seen the author's purpose was to tell the simple truth,
As a tribute to the prisoner and a warning to our youth.
You have seen mistakes and errors that less haste would quickly mend,
Yet, with all its imperfections, it may prove a useful friend.
And in future I may publish one with less of hasty thought
That may be—God knows the future—with undying issues fraught.
All tried means have proved abortive yet, my friend, there is a plan