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a poem about capital punishment
| Open Poetry #37 |
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a poem about capital punishment |
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shirtless Member
since 2006-04-29
Posts 359
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On a December evening in 1998, I was getting ready to go to a Christmas concert in which my daughter was playing. The news was on, and an impending execution in Texas, scheduled for that evening, was talked about. All through the concert, I was thinking about the execution and condemning myself for inaction on such matters. I wrote this poem as I sat in the audience at the concert. When I got home I found out that the execution had been delayed, but another execution that I had not heard about took place that day. Jeff Emery is the man that died that day. I revised my poem and used his name. I wrote Governor Bush that night and asked him to have mercy on the man whose execution had been delayed. No mercy was shown; the man was later executed. EXECUTION BY LETHAL INJECTION AND OTHER SIGNS OF THE CHRISTMAS SEASON IN TEXAS while I listened to my daughter playing the piano while houses glowed in the glitz of Christmas garters while George Bush Junior forgot that God Junior was ever born a man became a worm washed onto the sidewalk his love became a lightbulb shattered in the socket his dreams became matchsticks snapping as he struck them and December 8 6:24 p.m. Jeff Emery left Texas |
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| © Copyright 2006 Anthony Armstrong - All Rights Reserved | |||
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The Lady Member Rara Avis
since 2005-12-26
Posts 7634The Southwest |
Some fine images in this poem shirtless. I appreciate the poem and your action on behalf of those of us who cannot understand "capital punishment." |
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ice Member Elite
since 2003-05-17
Posts 3404Pennsylvania |
I could get political in this reply, but I won't... All I will say is that the headline above the poem is perfect... Thanks Shirt -----------ice ><> |
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Toerag Member Ascendant
since 1999-07-29
Posts 5622Ala bam a |
I won't go political either...it is a fine write however....and, though I feel sometimes capital punishment is wrong...somewhere in the back of my mind comes up the subject of "What if it was my daughter or son that was murdered"....and, this other instinct comes to mind...."Gee, I'd love to just "settle this out of court"....and lethal injection would be his easy way out...... |
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Susan Caldwell Member Rara Avis
since 2002-12-27
Posts 8348Florida |
I will!!!  I, for one, am glad Ted Bundy was put to death...remember he escaped from prision/jail and continued his deeds... nicely done poem though. "too bad ignorance isn't painful" ~Unknown~ |
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JamesMichael Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336Kapolei, Hawaii, USA |
I tend to consider the heartbreak, the sadness, the loneliness of the family that suddenly lost a loved one by the vicious act of another. Something a murderer does not consider...If their were no laws, there would be no end to the violence...James |
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shirtless Member
since 2006-04-29
Posts 359 |
James, I hope it is something other than laws that keeps us from being violent. I just feel that executions are as barbaric as murder. Thanks for reading my work. Regards, shirtless |
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JamesMichael Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336Kapolei, Hawaii, USA |
In one case a person is being murdered to break the law and in the second case they are being murdered to enforce the law...there is a difference...but I'm not saying I like either situation... One example of how people break the law, and they think it is innocent. They get drunk and drive their automobile down the freeway at 80 or 90 miles an hour...not caring about the safety of others...because they are drunk, or maybe just enjoy speeding. Meanwhile I am driving the speed limit, because I respect the laws, and see the necessity of laws to protect us from drunk drivers and speeders. Sooner or later the drunk driving speeder will crash and burn, and perhaps take some innocents out with him...how do you build a respect for the laws into a person before they break the law and take anothers life in the process...James |
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froggy Senior Member
since 2003-06-23
Posts 1893Michigan |
I enjoyed read. :-) Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, |
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Marge Tindal 
since 1999-11-06
Posts 42384Florida's Foreverly Shores |
I simply could find no mercy for this man, but thank you for your views and the poem you were moved to pen~ _____________________________________________ Jeff Emery, 39, 98-12-o8 - Texas In Huntsville, a former air conditioner repairman from Minnesota was executed Tuesday evening for the rape-slaying of a Texas A&M University student more than 19 years ago. Jeff Emery, 39, was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m., 6 minutes after an executioner started a flow of lethal drugs into his arms. In a very brief statement, Emery expressed love to a female friend who watched through glass a few feet away. "You know how I feel about you," he said. "Take care of yourself. That's all I have to say." As the drugs took effect, Emery gasped twice and exhaled deeply before he stopped moving. Emery was condemned for the Oct. 12, 1979, attack on LaShan Muhlinghaus, who entered her College Station apartment while Emery was inside committing a burglary. "What happened to him is what should have happened to him," her sister, Dee, said after watching the execution. "He made that decision when he killed my sister. "I'm not happy. I'm not going out tonight to celebrate, but I'm relieved. And I think all of my family is relieved that Mr. Emery will never be able to do this to anyone else and no other family will have to suffer what we went through for 19 years." Authorities said Emery, who never got beyond the 8th grade, hid inside a closet and attacked the 19-year-old student from Rowlett with a knife when she walked in. She was raped and her body mutilated with 25 stab wounds. The case went unsolved for 4 years until Emery's ex-wife went to police in Milwaukee and told them about her husband returning home that night covered with blood. "She couldn't take it any more," recalled Brazos County District Attorney Bill Turner, who prosecuted Emery. Detectives then tracked down Emery, who at the time was being held in St. Paul, Minn., on 3 counts of burglary. "When he was arrested, he was planning to kill his wife for turning him in," Turner said. "Other people said he was planning his wife's death. Some cases are just obvious. I'm convinced he would have hurt other people if we had not done our job. "Truly he is the one guy if he were out in the free world I would fear for me and my family. I've tried a dozen or so capital murder cases, but his threat is not just an intellectual argument." The U.S. Supreme Court refused last month to consider his appeals, clearing the way for the punishment to be carried out. Emery, who declined to be interviewed by reporters, was tried twice for the murder. His 1st conviction was thrown out by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals when parts of the trial transcript turned up missing. Emery becomes the 19th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas, and the 163rd overall since the state resumed executions on Dec. 7, 1982. Sources: Associated Press and Rick Halperin _____________________________________________ We each have different opinions on the use of the death penalty, I guess~ I found it interestingly disgusting that Jeff Emery lived 19 years and 2 months after the murder up until time of his death by lethal injection ... noting sadly that the victim was only 19 at the time he murdered her! On this case my opinion would be that justice was well-served~ Thanks again for enlightening us readers with the view from your pen~ ~*The sound of a kiss is not as strong as that of a cannon, but it's echo endures much longer*~ |
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Honeybee Member Ascendant
since 1999-12-26
Posts 5372Ontario, CANADA |
"while George Bush Junior forgot that God Junior was ever born a man became a worm washed onto the sidewalk his love became a lightbulb shattered in the socket his dreams became matchsticks snapping as he struck them" __________________________________ I, too will not get political here, however, I do appreciate your poem and find it to be very powerful and thought-provoking regardless of where the reader stands on this subject. The comparison of a child's innocence and her creativity at the piano and then later into the darkness of death and capital punishment makes this an even more powerful poem - with it's duality, innocence vs. sin; light vs. darkness, etc. Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, as you may not have meant for it to be a clever comparison for effect, but it is clever to me and I noticed it immediately. I also loved the lines: "while George Bush Junior forgot that God Junior was ever born" Very clever comparison also. And, I'm not going to get into how much I loathe George Bush either LOL Nonetheless, this is an excellent poem about an overly used theme in poetry and essay writing BUT your poem stands out among the ones I've read - yours at least is not cliche, it is clever and stands out as being a breath of fresh air in comparison to the generic and repetative pieces about capital punishment. Yeah, I'm a Virgo and a woman - so I talk a lot  Muzzle anyone?! heheMelissa~ Intellectually I know that Canada is no better than any other country. Emotionally I KNOW that Canada is the best country in the world! |
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