Joseph Osita Poet Elegy

Grieving Lines For the Innocent -An Elegy On the Death of Troy Davis

An Ocean of grief has welled in my soul
Grief of an orphan shrouded by injustice
And unto the legal gate of Georgia, 
A thousand unjust deaths posted notice
Why should it be the innocent dove? 


An amber fang of a Mephistophelian judge was imminent
Tearing all cloak innocence had worn
As holy truth assumed the position of the sun
Prime hatred was masking a noble in the court of law
And only the stainless blood of a lamb would please her rage
To atone the sorrows of a revenge-haunted family? (Truth denies)
O brothers why should it be the innocent Troy Davis? 
The tears-laden heart of mine forever shall mourn his demise



His departing lines still anchor in the inner chamber of my soul
"To thee O family of the deceased cop 
I may die but I am not your killer
And to thee my ruthless lethal killers
Pray for your souls for thou have soiled thy hands in my blood"
To my brothers who say it is legal
Empty your hates and embrace truth 
Some things may be legal but not right
Slavery in its prime was legal 
But to human dignity O brothers was it right?
An Ocean of grief has welled in my soul 
Grief of an orphan shrouded by injustice
For innocent Troy Davis is dead!

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Gwendolen Song October 3, 2011 at 5:18 PM A wonderful write of poetic injustice, Joseph. Vocab usage for this topic is powerful....empty your hates and embrace truth..nice.....bless Troy Davis... Gwendolen

Elizabeth Wesley September 28, 2011 at 9:25 PM I think I can echo what Vince says. We pay dearly for keeping these hoodlums alive in prison. A chilling write to wake up the justice system!

Vince Suzadail Jr. September 28, 2011 at 3:32 PM I guess I'm a walking contradiction, Pro-life and pro-death penalty,but the sentence of death needs to be just and swift without question of guilt. Justice in America is judged not by guilt or innocence but by the quality of your liar (Lawyer (I keep misspelling that). Should there have been any question of guilt, this man should still be alive. Vince

Andrea Dietrich September 27, 2011 at 12:47 AM oh, yes, I heard of this a little bit in the news. I see it greatly affected you. I had seen a documentary one time of over a hundred (maybe it was a thousand) innocent victims of the death penalty in the past century of our history. So sad!

Linda-Marie Sweetheart September 26, 2011 at 3:16 PM this was a ghastly gross injustice Joseph and many agree not enough evidence to execute this man.. a shining tribute to the legal system errors and incompetence of those in authority.. my friend.. we will continue to pray for this lamb slaughtered and his family as well as for the policeman who lost his life... everyone suffers from injustice.. no happy outcome.. u should send this piece to the Georgia legislature luv..

Sara Kendrick September 26, 2011 at 3:04 PM Sad..You did a good job in presenting the case for his innocence..Enjoyed reading your work..I hope that he had made it right and was born again as I heard that he said he had done..I regret that he died when he might have been innocent of the crime..Sara

Debbie Guzzi September 26, 2011 at 12:57 PM Such a tragedy as are ALL the government mandated executions, if it is against the law [which is to be our highest moral code] to kill, then it certainlt should be against the law for the law to kill. I am very proud of you for this write. I and others have been working against the death penalty for years, it's an emotionally exhausting fight! light & love Joseph Osita September 26, 2011 at 3:01 PM I am against death penalty as the ultimate punishment for any crime. Troy's is the worst I have ever read. About 7 out of the 9 witnesses against him recanted their claims but the government of Georgia went on and killed him. That's very sad