Above image was deleted by NBCi in April 2001
| Visit to Jorge Cordova's Homepage |
| Visit Rogelio Reyes Cannady's Homepage |
The sun has not yet risen
on the prison of Ellis Unit and its death row.
All is calm, the prisoners
are sleeping.
Even so,
voices can be heard in
two cells,
a quiet conversation
between two men.
( Then suddenly,
from the back of one
of those long cages of 1.5m x 2.7m
a man burst into tears,
the desperate sobs of
an anguished man.
In the next-door cell,
A man is sitting,
listening to his friend
near the heating ventilation.
He is opening his heart
to the infinite wave of emotions
which overwhelms his
companion of suffering.
Their cells are disposed
in such a way that they cannot see each other,
one way of communicating
is the heating ventilation system.
So, after years of silence,
of withdrawal into oneself
for fear of critical
judgements,
one of these men got
overwhelmed by a wave of emotions he He must talk to someone.
He cries his anguish,
he tells his deepest
fears:
the days go by and slowly
the 1O~ of February inches closer:
cannot control.
this day is his day
Distressing, crnel and
intolerable vision
of two men whose lives
run at a parallel at times.
Both know what suffering
is about
Yet, walls and bars isolate
them
preventing the little
human contact they could wish to have
in those terrible moments
of reprieve between
fife (life, really ?)
and death,
their death planned in
cold-blood,
legalized by
an archaic and inhuman
system.
* Jorge Cordova was executed
on February 10, 1999
Copyrights Lifespark Case postale 4002 B&le/ 05/03/99
Rogelio Reyes Cannady
999245 - Polunsky Unit
12002 FM 350 South
Livingston, Texas,
77351 USA
The Letter of the Month
April 1999
As members of Lifespark - Movement against the death penalty, we have been exchanging letters with prisoners on death row in the United States. Their letters are often astonishing, plenty of strong human feelings and emotions. To us some extracts deserve publishing on the Net. We have decided to do it on a monthly base.
The following extract is taken from a letter written on the 21st February 1999 by Rogelio Reyes Cannady # 999245, death row inmate in Ellis One Unit, Huntsville, Texas, to his penfriend in Switzerland.
We were out in the recreation yard with F. just walking and exchanging thoughts until they came to escort him back to his cell. So I waited for my escort and guess they forgot about me. I walked about and ended up by the gate...
The sun was shining brightly and a nice breeze was coming through. I wanted so badly to look straight at the sun so I closed my eyes and looked towards the sun. I could feel the rays warming my skin. It felt so good like when I stood under the sun on the beach. With my eyes closed I "saw" only shades of orange, red and yellowish. It was like I was suddenly somewhere else. Still I could hear the birds chirping because it was really quiet, with noboby else on the recreation yard.
One bird was chirping somewhere in front of me and for some reason I reached out... and was brought back immediately when my hand touched the gate. I tried to draw what I saw...
It was good at least to
be away even if for a moment!
Above image was deleted by NBCi in
April 2001
| Visit to Jorge Cordova's Homepage |
| Visit Rogelio Reyes Cannady's Homepage |
