drawing by Akil Jahi

the sentence
hopefully long
was to be put to death
eventually

until then
the sentence was to lose
everything
and everyone
and to listen
to the tick tock
of the clock
as the days
turned to decades

now and then
the sentence included
watching and hearing
one of your fellow men
one of your dear friends
walk past your cell on his way
to his death

what is the name of justice
when the punishment is far worse
than the crime?

Today's freewrite prompt from @mariannewest, leader and head mom of @freewritehouse, was tick-tock. You can access it here. It made me think of my friend Akil Jahi, who may or may not be waiting for a letter from me, and I first imagined him listening to his clock tick-tock until the mail comes. Then I imagined a condemned man, and all the other men on a death row, listen to the clock tick tock even faster as the moment nears for one of their deaths in the name of justice.

Akil Jahi and Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman have both been living on a death row for a very long time. I have started up a correspondence with Akil, whose letters always leave me breathless with both sorrow and joy. These men have learned to live life to the fullest in ways many of us only hope to be able to do. To learn more about my astonishment at what I found in a death row visiting room, please read this post, and this one. Akil has found his way in what has to be one of the bleakest of places to a state of feeling blessed. He has learned how to mine his traumas for riches. He writes poetry. We can learn so much from both of them.

For more information on Abu, please visit https://www.bonfire.com/justice-for-abu/

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