American Poets Opposed to Executions
Scroll down to an elegant poem by Lee Robinson and ache that you didn't think to write this yourself. Keep going for some amazing poems by Scott Hightower. Poems that represent the horror of execution and or torture, poems that dare to go too far because they dare to match the terrible acts by men in high places. Scott Hightower won the 2004 Hayden Carruth Prize.
The following poets are opposed to executions regardless of the crime. As taxpayers and American citizens we say "Not Another One in Our Name!" A list of reasons is included on this webpage.
Knife Lake Anthology by Patricia McMillen is a poetry chapbook released by Pudding House in May, 2006. Poems in the voice of death row and death row interactives. $10 + $2.50 postage/handling from Pudding House, 81 Shadymere Ln, Columbus Ohio 43213.
Governor-turned-President George W. Bush, Governor Bob Taft of Ohio, and others who did not stop the killing (have only increased it with their pre-meditated killing of the killers)--see a man is defective and so they kill him. There are millions of people in this country who disagree with the death penalty and who say Execution is Not the Solution!
Poets think for a living. Poets speak on behalf of a people. It is important that we emphasize that we are American because America has the embarrassment of being one of the few countries still using the death penalty. True patriots do what they can to elevate their society to higher acts of justice. It is important for the world to know that many of us want the death penalty abolished now. Moritorium is not good enough. Here are a few of us.
If you ask me what I came into this world to do, I will tell you. I came to live out loud.
- Emile Zola
Steve Abbott
Brenda Alldredge
Dorothy Anderson
Cathleen Appleman
Elizabeth Austen
Rebecca Baggett
Stacie Barry
Jeanne Marie Beaumont
Richard Beban
Retinna Bell
John M. Bennett
Esmeralda Bernal
Carol Bindel
Cynthia Blomquist
Chris "Boo" Booe
Jennifer Bosveld
Karen Bowden
Gene Bradford
Gayle Brandeis
Bob Brooks
Sarah Browning
Kathleen Burgess
Jessica Lee Burke
Ronald K. Burke
Catherine A. Callaghan
Gabrielle Calvocoressi
E.R. Carlin
Patricia Carlin
Lawrence Carradini
Ellin Carter
Marie Cartier
Alan Catlin
Michael Ceraolo
Sherry Chandler
Joel Chase
Tim Cheeseman
David Chorlton
Lacie Clark
James Leroy Coffey
Stephen Corey
Stephen Cramer
Tony Crunk
Chuck Culhane
Molly Davis
Mary Krane Derr
Diane di Prima
Jane Hufford Downes
Denise Duhamel
Constance Eggers
Dick Eiden
Jane Elsdon
Bryant Evans
Connie Willett Everett
Tom Fallon
Patricia Fargnoli
Sandra J. Feen-Diehl
Fred Ferraris
Annie Finch
Charlene Fix
Richard Foerster
Reverend Anne Carroll Fowler
Freddy Harold Frankel
Daisy Fried
Rosemary Frances Gegare
Britton Gildersleeve
Larry D. Griffin
Jeff Gundy
Carol Hamilton
Michael Hathaway
Susan Hazen-Hammond
Eloise Klein Healy
Leona Mason Heitsch
Peggy O. Heller
David C. Hetzler
Mary Rising Higgins
Scott Hightower
Diane Hueter
Brandon Isaak
Mary Strong Jackson
Larry Jaffe
Frank Johnson
Patricia Spears Jones
Michele L. Jordan
Jerry Judge
Diane Kendig
Dave King
Jeff Knorr
Randy Koch
Greg Kosmicki
Julie M. Krakora
Mary Jackson Krauter
Mark S. Kuhar
Jennifer Lagier
Karen Landmann
Sandra Jane Larson
Marvena Lating
John Laue
Ann Lederer
Jeffrey Ethan Lee
Helen Losse
Andrew Lundwall
Al Maginnes
Michael Manley
Martha Manno
Ryan Masters
Janet McCann
Jack McGuane
P.C. McKinnon
Robert Acquinas McNalley
Diana McQuady
Craig McVay
Dodie R. Meeks
Willian Merricle
Lyn Miller-Lachmann
Robert Miltner
Patricia Monaghan
CJ Muchhala
Jeffica Lynn Muncy
Kate Murphy
David Olsen
Guy Ottewell
Christine Pacsov
James Penha
Kirk Perrow III
Jim Peterson
Noralee Carrier Potts
Diane Roberts Powell
David Radavich
Ben Rader
Patricia Ranzoni
Tree Riesener
Sherry Reiter
Suzanne Rhodenbaugh
Susan Rich
Laurel Richardson
Ed Rimbaugh
Lee Robinson
Alma Rolfs
Magdaleno Rose-Avila
Marion Rosser
Trinidad Sánchez, Jr.
Suzanne Savickas
Penelope Scambly Schott
Brandon Schroeder
Lloyd Schwartz
Raphael Schweri
Patty Seyburn
Dan Sicoli
Leslie Simon
Knute Skinner
Steven K. Smith
Anna Soter
Jean Spencer
Cris Staubach
Dorothy Sutton
Terese Svoboda
David Swanger
Beverly Sweet
Joan Swift
F. Richard Thomas
Mary Ann Titus
Manuel J. Vélez
Susan E. Wagner
Chocolat Waters
Anthony Watkins
Florence Weinberger
Jane Welch
Gail White
Laurie Anne Whitt
Julie Whittenburg
Catherine Wiley
Jassonn Charles Williams aka Mista Jaycee
Harriet Zinnes
From HEARSAY, which won the 2004 Poets Out Loud Prize
(Fordham University Press):
The Rules of Evidence
What you want to say most
is inadmissible.
Say it anyway.
Say it again.
What they tell you is irrelevant
can't be denied and will
eventually be heard.
Every question
is a leading question.
Ask it anyway, then expect
what you won't get.
There is no such thing
as the original
so you'll have to make do
with a reasonable facsimile.
The history of the world
is hearsay. Hear it.
The whole truth
is unspeakable
and nothing but the truth
is a lie.
I swear this.
My oath is a kiss.
I swear
by everything
incredible.
Lee Robinson
___________________________________________
From "Tin Can Tourist":
THE SHOWING OF THE INSTRUMENTS
(St. Lawrence Before Valerianus, Fra Angelico, ca. 1447)
There are all those scenes of pagan
administrators sitting before a wall
of patterned fabric stretched between
those pink, leafy pilasters of opulence
presiding judiciously over
the showing of the instruments;
those apparatuses, a tactic within a tactic,
usually lying on the pale ground
somewhere between the seat of authority
and the heretical stand;
solemn apparatuses of wood and iron,
a kind of static profanity
spilled out on the ground,
dark, symmetrical, opaque.
Never do the eyes of anyone
attendant ever seem to move
across them. No, not their eyes.
Only their willful tongues and ears
make clear what truly is at stake.
This is the dialogue of intentions,
the display:
on one hand, the pride of ingenuity
of the torture devised;
diffused, multiple, and polyvalent;
as if to say,
"We can tear you to shreds
in the blink of an eye;"
on the other hand, bloodless courage
of the accused whose instrument
in the investigation is the soul.
The gesture here is the juncture
between the judgment of men
and the judgment of God.
One will die without any doubt. Left and right.
In and out. Our bodies are our witness.
It is our soul that one must save.
We judge ourselves.
THE APPLICATION OF FORCE
I.
(Die Geisselung Christi, Adriaen van der Werff, 1710)
The officiously swathed governor
clean handed, shaved, and crowned,
(insidiously unswayed) looks down
from the brink of a balustrade.
Knout, Bull Pizzle, a Skinning Cat:
though the family of whips is vast,
all serve a specific end.
The slender ropes of some,
at first glance, seem harmless;
at least here there are no sharp iron stars.
The post is low and squat,
not quite wrist high.
Here, some have watched
while others have been whipped
into shape, down, up, to a pulp.
been beaten to a slump.
We can see how,
in the hollow of his lower back,
just above his naked cheeks,
his sloping wrists have been hitched
to the obliging column.
This keeps him, bowing slightly,
tethered in the well of spin.
Central to all of this
is the man
laved in the solution of constant surveillance,
unable to see himself as he is seen;
his expressive body,
stripped, in the light,
beneath the demonstrative blows
of this impressive,
arm-raised, backlit executioner.
II.
Each day the sun; everywhere the stars,
except–-one feels–-in places such as this.
It is as if this day God whistled
and all of his luxurious dynasties of bees
immediately withdrew;
obediently abandoned the land.
Here one can almost feel
the field tremble, the earth quake,
hear Saul amidst the hungry uttering
"Withdraw your hand."
From "Part of the Bargain":
BUT AT THE CHURCH
I didn't mind that someone
had seen fit to drape his coffin
at the funeral home or graveside
service. (Who can deny "taps"
its force?) I understood
there were many grieving
who saw him as a patriot
who had survived
and returned to thrive
in peace for another sixty years.
And I—oddly sharpened by grief––
appreciated their veteran
loyalty and desire to bid him
a fraternal farewell. But
we were not a military family.
Hadn't he really just been a kid
trying to stay alive, and much
of that time probably not very sober?
The "war years" had preceded us…
me. And I had my misgivings
about any cohort
possessing a force
some of us feel best left
only in the hands of God.
________________________________________________
Here is a poem by Susan Rich. It pulls no punches.
Not in Our Name
Inside this room we don't come to: the sizzle and spit
as of fat in a pan, a sweet heavy smell
of flesh in flames, and two exhaust fans turning
toward a man whose hair on his left leg
and head have been shaved,
a diaper pinned in the waist of his jeans.
No prayers, no words, will he slip
in his hands, only the fingers
can legally burn into blue smithereens.
Here is the soft mauve cloth he'll wear
which will hide the human face
when the veins push out of his molting skin
like glass ridges on a jar or vase.
Let this chair mark the spot
where his heart shudders, then pops
in accordance with Florida law.
Here, stand in this room
with no view of the sea, meet the warden
the Imam, the Rabbi, the Priest.
See the doctor who shines a light in the eye
of a man when he's three minutes dead.
Here in a room, with a switch on the wall,
is one citizen paid always in cash --- assuring us
the nightmares he has may never be publicly shared.
Susan Rich
from her collection
The Cartogapher's Tongue: Poems of the World
White Pine Press, 2000
Copyright (c) 2000 Susan Rich, permission granted
_________
WHAT ABOUT THE D.C. SNIPER?
But don't even right-thinking people against the death penalty want to see the Washington DC snipers of 2002 die? No. We agree with Abe Bonowitz of CUADP (Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty:
Immediate Release: 14 November 2003
CONTACT: Abe Bonowitz
561-371-5204
CUADP TO JOIN PROTESTS AT SNIPER TRIALS
As the trial of John Allen Muhammad goes to the jury, Jupiter (FL)
based Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (CUADP)
director Abe Bonowitz will join representatives of Virginians for
Alternatives to the Death Penalty (VADP) at their daily vigil
outside the courthouse in Virginia Beach. The groups oppose the death penalty in all cases, and will feature large and highly visible banners with messages like "We remember the victims, but not with more killing," and "When the State Kills, YOU kill!"
"I am coming to Virginia to stand with fellow abolitionists who are putting themselves on the front line in one of the most infamous
cases in recent memory," said Bonowitz. "We believe in accountability, and we believe that society deserves to be protected from dangerous criminals, but those goals are accomplished with the alternative punishment - life without the possibility of parole. It is simply too dangerous to allow the state the power to kill its own citizens."
Bonowitz will be available for interviews at the courthouse, and by
phone at 561-371-5204.
SENT BY: Abraham J. Bonowitz, Director, CUADP
********************************************************
YES FRIENDS!
There is an Alternative to the Death Penalty.
Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (CUADP) works
to end the death penalty in the United States through aggressive
campaigns of public education and the promotion of tactical
grassroots activism.
Visit www.cuadp.org or call 800-973-6548
________________________
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence,
and toughness multiplies toughness
in a descending spiral of destruction...
The chain reaction of evil --
hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars --
must be broken, or we shall be plunged
into the darkness of annihilation."
--Dr. Martin Luther King
+ + + + + + +
Amnesty International USA site
working against the death penalty:
www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/
Includes actions people can take,
commonly asked questions,
press releases
and much more.
+ + + + + + + + +
If you are a poet who is in favor of alternatives to the death penalty, whether you've been fighting against capitol punishment or are just now coming to this opinion, please email us and we'll post your name on the list. We expect the list to grow because poets think for a living.
The list of reasons to abolish the death penalty may be copied and used freely but please retain author credit and copyright notice. Additional suggestions for this list are welcome.
Abolish the Death Penalty Because
Killing killers (death penalty sentences)have been later proven wrong
Killing killers grieves The Interdependent Web of Life
Killing killers encourages frightened false confessions from some fragile citizens
Killing killers sanctions killing and is against most religious teachings
Killing killers is not what the Dali Lama would do
Killing killers breaks the Commandment, Thou Shalt Not Kill
Killing killers contributes to a violent society
Killing killers further hardens the hardened soul
Killing killers destroys hope that a guilty criminal is redeemable
Killing killers opposes the Beatitude, Blessed are the merciful
Killing killers creates another victim of violence
Killing killers is always murder
Killing killers is unconstitutional and is "cruel and unusual punishment"
Killing killers is politically dangerous because many are willing to die for their cause so therefore;
Killing killers risks opposite effect
Killing killers is not logical revenge
Killing killers is not suitable revenge
Killing killers is only revenge and is therefore not honorable response
Killing killers makes it hard to get an impartial jury in capital punishment cases
Killing killers does not help victim families and keeps them in a revenge mode
Killing killers disrespects victims whose cases should be remembered w/live criminal serving time
Killing killers doesn't fit the concept of "corrections"
Killing killers is not an honorable legacy our children should inherit
Killing killers cheats us from our highest selves
Killing killers gives the state power over life and death; some think that's God's job
Killing killers means murderers have no chance to repent
Killing killers destroys the killer's chance to learn
Killing killers makes us concentrate on killing and killers
Killing killers dishonors federal government and our entire country
Killing killers makes each taxpayer an accomplice
Killing killers is savage, irresponsible, and against the world's way
Killing killers makes us ignore what's essential and remember what is evil in us as a community
Killing killers is final...leaves no room for human error
Killing killers means the U.S. remains the only Western industrialized nation to retain the death penalty
Killing killers is against the informed judgment of most criminology experts
Killing killers holds nothing in common with the highest expressions of God's Nature
Killing killers destroys the morality of unconditional love
Killing killers means murderers don't face their crime
Killing killers violates the universal declaration of human rights
Killing killers allows murderers quick release
Killing killers distracts us from additional good work for justice
Killing killers is not a way to clean out prisons
Killing killers means you'd be killing your brother, your sister
Killing killers creates martyrs out of criminals
Killing killers causes chaos on the streets, causes confrontation on the sidewalks
Killing killers forces victim families to anticipate more death
Killing killers does not avenge victims
Killing killers dishonors voters
Killing killers is not "An Eye for an Eye;" it does not equal the original "sin"—both are unique sins
Killing killers is not a reason to save money
Killing killers makes us concentrate on death instead of life
Killing killers dishonors the judicial system
Killing killers means murderers have no chance to pay back
Killing killers does not show that killing is wrong
Killing killers makes us all "affected parties" though most are unwilling citizens
Killing killers means murderers have no chance to reform
Killing killers is not a reason to clean out the prisons
Killing killers dishonors the local/state government
Killing killers does not influence future killers not to kill
Killing killers breaks another mothers heart
Killing killers is not what Martin Luther King would do
Killing killers destroys the judge's, jury's, prosecutor's, defense team's, and governor's chance to learn
Killing killers does not bring back the dead
Killing killers is not what Gandhi would do
Killing killers is not what Jesus would do
Killing killers feeds the downward spiral
Killing killers ignores "No Man is an Island"
Killing killers stops world assistance toward capture—Europeans long centered ethics anti-execution
Killing killers is not pro-life (in case you say you are pro-life)
Killing killers is not pro-choice (it's not your body)
Killing killers makes us guilty of doublespeak, contradiction, illogical reasoning
Killing killers is a hate crime
Killing killers means deep and sorrowful regret when later someone else confesses
Killing killers means deep and sorrowful regret when later the eye witness retracts
Killing killers means deep and sorrowful regret when later we discover tainted evidence
Killing killers does not save us money though that would be irrelevant if it did
Killing killers makes the State a killer
Killing killers dishonors the legal system
Killing killers works against prison reform
Killing killers is not the best we can come to by now.
Killing killers is just plain fundamentally, spiritually, and social evil.
—Jennifer Bosveld, American Poets Opposed to Executions
© 2001 Jennifer Bosveld
TAKE ANY OF THESE LINES AND WRITE AN ESSAY
Killing killers breaks the Commandment, Thou Shalt Not Kill.
The Commandment does not read "Thou Shalt Not Kill unless that person killed first." The Commandment is brief, to the point, and all-inclusive. "Thou Shalt Not Kill." Period. No exceptions. Ironic that many of the politicians saying yes to the death penalty profess to be staunch Christians. The only Christian, Jesus (if he is the reader's "Christ" or Messiah) the one true Christian, never called for any person anywhere to be killed or do the killing. Why is it so difficult for a so-called Christian president, governor, judge, etc. to put an end to the killing that their Jesus would never condone? They all have the power to do so but instead support the injection or hanging or whatever means of pre-meditated murder our states choose to kill the killer. I live in a country of killers ruled by killers overseen by killers all if it approved and legislated by killers. No, I do not love this country. I love thousands of people IN it and I love everything we sing about in America the Beautiful but if speaking politically, how could I possibly love this country. America has been more about killing (war is the biggest death penalty) than anything else. Praise the actions of celebrities who role model life-action: Oprah building schools in Africa, Bon Jove, Bono, Tim Robbins, George Clooney, and others. They are the major leaders in a positive direction. If your self-appointed king is killing, is violently against everything you stand for, take your wisdom on the road and do what you can. The good you do will multiply like the Biblical loaves and fishes. This, from a heathen...well, at least agnostic. --Jennifer Bosveld
Stand vigil where we are the least humane.
When faced with any difficult decisions, all we need ask is,
Is it Life-Affirming? --Jennifer Bosveld
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Last Updated: January 1, 2007
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