My Last Words

Razor wire fence,
I'm held in suspense,
Surrounded by concrete and steel,
Held to surrender to their will.

Premeditated hate,
I await my fate,
And one day I will
Face an execution date.

Step off in a room,
I will feel the doom,
Strapped to a table,
Completely unable.

My last words will be heard,
I will speak them loud
And hold my head proud,
And then I'll say:

An eye for an eye,
And a tooth for a tooth,
But I'm here to share -
To share the truth.

For this is what
It's all about,
And I know this
Without a doubt.

An eye for an eye,
America will cry,
But I'm here to say
That that's a lie.

For a rich man will walk,
And a poor man will die.
And that we can't deny,
Nor can we justify.

Worst of the worst,
Maybe so,
For it's a lawyer that
Put me on Death Row.

Assigned by the state
To determine my fate.

I was white trash,
Just another junkie.
That's why they assigned me
A two-bit flunky.

And I knew
At first glance
That I didn't stand
Any kind of chance.

Mark Stroman # 999409 Polunsky Unit Death Row
3872 FM 350 South Livingston, TX 77351

The Sweet Smell Of Life

It was early, not quite dawn and the air was heavy with the promise of rain. Rain has always been one of my favorite elements that Mother Nature offers us. The Sweet Smell of Life.

I sat in my dark cell sipping my first cup of coffee and savouring the peace and quiet of the morning. I’m a morning person and being on Texas Death Row it’s one of the few things I can enjoy since most others sleep their time away. So before the noise and chaos of the day begins I flip through my photos and return to days long past. I wondered briefly of my eleven year old daughter in Vancouver, Washington, sleeping soundly so many hundred miles away in a city known for it’s rainfall. How very fortunate she is, I thought, and how very much I miss and love them both at the moment.

The spell was broken by the ringing sound of keys and metal locks as the side door was opened and the silence was completely shattered by yells to get ready for recreation. Food slots banging open and handcuffs clicking around the wrists of the first wave out and since my cell is one of the first in my section I’m always fortunate to be out early. The early dawn sky was an amber colour and I could practically taste the rains nearness as I did my first set of push-ups. It was during that set that a steady mist began to fall slowly from the sky. I held my head back and let it fall upon my face as I stood perfectly still. It was the first rain I’d felt on my skin in years and it drifted my soul miles away, it’s a feeling I’ll cherish forever. The Sweet Smell of Life.

During the second set the drizzle mist intensified into a driving rain beating down upon me with a massaging effect, Penetrating into my pores and seeming to reach the deepest part of my soul. I laid down on my back reaching my arms out wide to embrace this invigorating shower pouring from the heavens. I laughed out loud, not able to help it, nor caring to. The tingling reached down into my bones and began running through my veins and reaching into the depth of my very soul. As I laughed I knew the rain was washing away the tears that were spilling from my eyes in the same way that it was washing away all the pain, the loneliness, the sorrow and the longing Death Row had embedded so deep inside me.

I’ll be leaving this place one day soon, execution is my release date. In the final hours when they do come, I’ll blow out the candle of life with no bitterness for I have tasted life, lived, loved and will always remember the Sweet Smell of Life that fell from heaven that day.

Forever I Remain
In the struggle
Mark Stroman
Texas Death Row