This is a poem by Darrell B. Grayson who is scheduled to be executed today.

[laststeamtrain]

LIFE LINES

Living narrow lives does not come easy.
Where would we be without happenstance?
This existence, constrained, is not blessed with
An embarrassment of riches. It is fundamental.

When the phone goes silent, on that voice
Sweet as a love song, the wider world is
Closed off with the finality of a vacuum sealed
Door, the least it shuts out is sight and sound.

The voice is gone, memory kicks in and we
Are saved, rescued and transported on wings
Of grace. There, the scent of honeysuckle
Demands, recognition from taste buds
Readily available for the children of the have-nots,
Playing near railroad tracks.
*

There are others here:
http://www.deadmule.com/poetry/2007/04/holman%e2%80%99s-house/
*

From today's Birmingham News:

Rally appeals for execution stay
Activist groups seek DNA testing for Grayson
Thursday, July 26, 2007
STAN DIEL
News staff writer

MONTGOMERY - Representatives of a half-dozen activist organizations including the NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference on Wednesday launched an 11th-hour appeal to Gov. Bob Riley to stay the execution of Death Row inmate Darrell Grayson.

Supporters rallied on the Capitol steps, arguing that Grayson could be cleared by DNA tests not available at the time of his 1981 trial. He is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at 6 p.m. today.

Esther Brown, executive director of Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty, said Grayson, who is black, was pressured into a confession by white police officers, tried by a court that provided only $500 to be spent on his defense, and convicted by an all-white jury.

<more>
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/118544151857180.xml&coll=2

The telephone number for the governor of Alabama is [phone]

[stellanoir]

1. and scooter skated

I hope they commute this one.

so soulful.

[TwilightGardener]

2. Did you read the article? The part where he was found outside

the elderly woman's house in the bushes, covered with her blood and her wedding rings in his pocket? The part where he first recounted details of her rape and murder, but now says he was "too drunk" to remember correctly? Soulful poetry my ass. Burn in hell, dude--you have it coming.