Short Death Row Poems

Flowers, smiling plant mouths
Fruits, a death-row victim...

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fish, rice and nori
skillfully rolled up, then cut
served with hot saki...

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whimsical bottles of poison 

ingested by all we know

whimsical bottles of poison

will you be next on death row?...

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I have surrendered my arrow 
My kinsmen all death row 
Life is worth roe 
like eating meat raw 
Fight not like no guns tomorrow...

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On death row I was somewhat surprised,
once an inmate had been tranquilized,
that when facing death,
and a very last breath,
the lethal needle must be sterilized....

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 his plea
                  for clemency
           has fallen on deaf ears - 
  a death row inmate walks to the
                       gallows...

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Uncle Joe spends his days on death row,
for killing his best friend and Aunt Flo.
He found them in bed,
then filled them with lead.
Losing a friend hurts, don't you know?




3/28/20...

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I
In your hour of need, you hurt when those whom you have helped, now go deathly still

II
Remember the psalms: "God is my portion;" and if God is not, you are on death row getting news, you just inherited 3 million dollars....

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I dream of crimson early evenings,
of smoldering clouds of afterglow

I share the longing of stray pigeons
for home skylines they dearly know

I wish to fly away from the nightmare
of the truth of me here in death row!


....

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hardened criminals on the death row yet
devoid of remorse, erst crimes do forget
brushing aside their past acts horrendous 
errant is world which holds deep animus
self appraisal deems their heart as perfect

23-June-2021...

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I do this
Not for a reward
Not because it's right
And not because I'm bored

I've seen where you could go
It's a long and dangerous road
I'm not one to talk
I'm walking death row

I would wear glass shoes,
To build a bridge just for you.

Happily....

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Bare, it’s clean, does love exist?
Scraped clean, who deserves such confused?

Death row veggies , marrow delight?
Slaughtered for our feast?

Bacon cheese- burger
Defiles humanity

Ask me now
Does love exist?

Does
               Love

                              Exist?


11/010/11...

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The final question 
When on the death row
Is fear in tow
Or tranquil elation

No evasiveness possible
When the hammer falls
We can no longer stall
The question inevitable 

Inner bliss current
Yet throbs in continuity
Inconsequential to serenity
Is life or death sentiment 

23-October-2020...

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One afternoon in the chamber of death
A young man loses his life
Death took him with a smile

No longer feel pain
He truly forgives them all
Whose eyes were so blind
And covey him to his tomb
He knew he finally free

In hands of justice 	
By death of an innocent
Decayed truth unveiled





~ Kimo, Tanka, Senryu Forms...

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Walking down
Death row
Looking up
Into the sky
Wondering
When I can go
From this place
Called home
Something is wrong
The sky
Is broken into two
One side is black
The other side
Is white
I wonder why
The sky
Is broken into two
I look down
To see the faces
Of men who'll die
Before me
I look up
Back to see the sky
All one color now
Its black
Which means
Death day for me...

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Folk commit heinous crimes
we hear it on the news
senseless stabbings
multiple shootings
Bang! Bang! Bang!
So many innocent victims lose their lives

Callous cold blooded killers
get locked up in a cell
some live for many years on ‘death row’
they get reprieve after reprieve
sadly the victim’s families have a life sentence
and yet they call this justice


12/18/18...

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He’d spent nearly a decade on death row
Praying for appeals that were not bestowed
     Had a solid alibi
     One the courts would just not buy
A death sentence he’d have to undergo
 
DNA exam proved him no killer
But there’s a sad angle to this thriller
     Tests performed posthumously
     Executioners agree
Evidence came too late; what a chiller!
 


*For Miranda’s “Behind Bars Blues” contest...

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Those long lost days in solitary,
   Were really for the good.
   They gave me time to think about,
    My life and where it stood.
   I'm ready now to meet my fate,
   My crime was spilling blood.

   I should have joined the military,
   Where killings understood.
   With gun in hand i would go out,
   To take life where i could.
   And this is for my country, why!
   To die in foreign mud.

   6/ 29/ 2015....

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To die old and weak
Inside a cold steel box.

Do they tag your toe on death row?
It may be a moment though.
The long reach of justice is slow.
 As You've taken souls.
And threw away your own
Skeleton man, you are, no parole. 

So make no mistake
Time does not stop.
For any of those.
The reaper knows who,
Grows short on the clock.
When their bell toll tolls.
He is their last stop.
Will they tag your toe on death row?...

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Pine trees
Dancing in the breeze.

A man on death row
Praying on his knees 

They think justice they sow
For one more breath he says please
They say no

Those eyes look back in contempt
A fair system is the concept 

But this man is innocent 
Still he will die a guilty man tomorrow 

The lawyer has done all he can
This surprisingly happens often

Maybe that penalty we should soften
I don't know. An innocent man on the row...

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I want to die because of sorrow.
I wish I embrace you before joining the death row.
I`m ready to god taking everything I gain.
So that I can be with you one more day again.

Before you my life was meaningless.
Before you I didn't know what love is.
I am your gipsy, your pilgrim.
You are the key to my destine.

You are the first love; you, the last one 
My whole life is you, you the only one
You are the pure love God gifts me.
You were my love and you will be....

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They'll pray for a thug
a murderer and thief
a lost dog-a rare fish 
but never the police...
They'll pray for 
a two timing ho ho
a mad clown on death row
but you'll not hear a peep
when its comes to the po po.
They'll pray for a pedophile
and the criminally insane
but never to those that
walk the beat for our sake.
They'll pray for harlots and addicts
senatorial warlocks and congressional witches
but when it comes to the police
you'll hear only crickets- - -  - - -...

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Outside my window
I’m being hunted by a little black crow
He’s circling my house like I’m on death row.
He’s waiting to attack, but he doesn’t think I know,
I’m being hunted by a little black crow...

He’s driving me crazy,
so I turned on the gas stove.
As soon as he heard the switch,
he flew into a nearby cove.
Tic.. tic.. BOOM!
Was the sound of the gas stove,
my body was ripped like pulling on green cloves.
Looks like I was killed by a little black crow


-Shane P. 9/14/15...

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(This is a fictional poem)

You destroyed my life when you raped and killed my daughter.
Now you're on death row and you're going to be slaughtered.
You took the only thing in my life that mattered.
I'm glad they're going to fry you, you bastard!
When the sun rises, I don't even want to get out of bed.
I'm miserable and I'm falling apart because she's dead.
You broke into our home and callously killed her with a knife.
I just want you to know that I'll hate you for the rest of my life....

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