1297580  Poems Read Home Login

 ramblings and things

smallstepsmadpotepotriemantheartfulcodgerscogspeaksvolumes
Death Row


He pleaded he was innocent
Until his very last breath.
The jury didn't listen
And condemned him to death.
They found him guilty of kidnapping,
High on speed at the time,
No excuse there, but surely
He'd paid his debt in served time.
He wrote fifteen Songs of Freedom
From his cell on Death Row
One for each year they kept him there
For the wheels of Justice can be slow.

The world read his songs
And he achieved some fame
As over the years
Many got to know his name.
There were pleas for clemency
As justice ground along
Until the last appeal was lost
The last real hope was gone.
Strapped to the Electric Chair
The witnesses watched him die
And after all that time
Many around the world asked why.

Justice or revenge.
World revulsion was strong.
No way of retribution now
If the verdict had been wrong.
A cruel type of system to be
For so long kept in limbo
Then suddenly, finally, irrevocably,
Removed from Death Row.
They still sang his Songs of Freedom
So many years after he was gone
So maybe in a way he cheated,
Maybe, in a way,  he lived on.







©2000 - 2022, Individual Authors of the Poetry. All rights reserved by authors.

Visit My Home Page | Start Your Own Poetry Site | PoetryPoem

[ Control Panel ]  [ Today's Poetry - ALL Poets ]   [ Search ]