To Kill a Man

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEATH PENALTY

To Kill

 

To kill a man in anger

To kill a man for cause

To kill a man for vengeance

To kill a man is wrong

 

I understand the rage

When an injustice is done

But there is no compensation

In picking up a gun

There is no grand salvation

In public execution

Let the hand of justice reign

Let it be firm and strong

But let it be without emotion

For that which soothes today

Tomorrow it may stun

 

To kill someone in anger

To kill someone for cause

To kill someone is wrong

Regardless of the laws

 

There are many who are evil

Who deserve a sudden death

Their crimes are so despicable

They steal away our breath

When justice takes them down

We will not shed a tear

We’ll celebrate the moment

And raise a rowdy cheer

But we will not kill in anger

To prove that we are strong

We will not kill for vengeance

Because killing is wrong

 

Cruel and Unusual

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEATH PENALTY

Cruel and Unusual

 

In times past a king executed a human

being with the wave of his hand

 

Beheading

Hanging

Stoning

A firing line

 

A king, a queen, an emperor, a commander

gave the order and the executor executed

It was common though it was cruel

 

Today we subject the accused to a trial

that can take months or years

To an appeals process that takes decades

And an execution that drags on and on

in finding a method of killing that is

something less than horrific

 

Electrocution

Chemical injection

The gas chamber

Hanging or firing line

 

It is no longer common

but it is cruel beyond belief

If we make cruelty common

it is no longer unconstitutional

but it remains unconscionable

immoral and devoid of humanity

 

We are experimenting with death

Manipulating methods of taking life

until we find one that masks its

inherent cruelty

 

Our nation and culture can never be

civilized until we ban this barbaric practice

Every individual who supports the death

penalty should be forced to watch an

execution in real time

 

The dying of the light is common

The taking of the light is cruel

The state should have no right

Let mercy be the rule