JOHN DOE ON DEATH ROW

Sitting alone I ponder over my life.
My life to be taken.
Like the man I killed with the knife.

Regret that I did it or regret I got caught?
Solace in the Lord is what I should have sought.
Not wasted my life on drugs and booze that I bought.

My ill-gotten gains made me crave more.
I wanted to be liked and I craved amour.

The attention of fast girls and flash sports cars.
Have no meaning when you're behind these cold steel bars.

Not wired up right I heard one man say.
This thing is a danger.
We must make him pay!

So here am I, scared and in fear.
Not wanting to die.
But with my crime I'll pay dear.

The guards watch over me 24/7.
In case I beat the executioner to the pearly gates of heaven.

No chance of that, my cell is so sparse.
Trying to slit my wrists with old newspapers.
Now that would be a farce.

Now, my last meal to think about.
My favourite dish?
Yeah of that I have no doubt.

So when it's all over where shall I go?
To a small plot in the yard.
With the others from death row.

? Simon Murphy