Far behind these prison walls and steel gates,
            Are armed officers trained by the state.
            There's conflict going on, silent and unseen,
            With walls three feet thick to conceal the screams.

            Many try to display a smiling face,
            To hide the pain of this place.
            So many feel brought to their knees to cry,
            But one learns to remain strong - or die!

            And even if you hold on, you'll lose anyway,
            Because most will be strapped in that chair on execution day.
            The politicians say it's what the public wants and never sigh,
            Because they say the public wants "an eye for an eye".

            Where once there was one,
            A second will die before you are done!
            Where once there was one killer,
            Now there are three ...
            The murderer
            The state
            And you and me.

            Why should we live when another has died,
            Don't you know that only God can take "an eye for an eye"?
            Condemning one another while we hide our own pasts,
            Under the guise of "justice" we kill ...
            While fanatics claim it was God's will ...
            We cover his eyes so we won't feel the shame,
            Of killing a man who's little more than a name ...
            Then back to our homes and snug little lives,
            We sleep without conscience next to our wives.

            There's so much we can learn from the men on the Row,
            So much they could teach us that we need to know.

                        ........................................

             Richard Rossi, April 1993