Eric Thomas, _Dead Man Walking

.................................
Dead Man Walking
.................................

racing down the tube
into needle
a final message
to his body

like anesthesia
last memory the
smell of the gas
changing

stand with me here
a minute

a man strapped down
the scene
already surreal
turns into the
nightmare montage

kids necking
front seat
in the back woods
look up
death in each window

onlookers
watch through glass
as his shaking
stops

bodies

the murderer
on the table
two innocents
silent and torn
in the back woods

they watch now
with indifferent eyes

stand with me here
a minute

parent
of the child

parent
of the killer

let us lock our hands together
and let the tears flow
undisturbed

.................................
Eric Thomas
.................................