Flip The Switch

Flip the switch
Snuff a life
Succumb to darkness
Put out the light
What is a life worth?
In this shattered system
Not much,
If within these walls
We bring death inward
Eye for an Eye
Leaves us blind in love
Young in Faith
No teeth to chew scripture
No minds to see straight
If God loves us all
Can we take that from another?
Life is more than their crimes
We've all made unpleasant choices
So what's the going rate
For a mistake or two or three?
Loss of life is worth LIFE
Do you see the irony?
Life is worth life
Death can equal death
Redemption equals nothing
That part is for yourself
But in the bare truth of life
In her certain circumstances
Her life is almost up
She is at her last standing
Flip the switch
Snuff a life
What is a life worth?
Well in OUR Justice System
They don't ransom it for much.


Perspective on the Poem:
I wrote this after hearing from my supervisor about a women on Death Row, who has exhausted all her legal procedures and now awaits death. It jarred me, because after working in the Prison system, you start to see the cracks. It begs the question: Do we ever really know certainly enough of someones innocence or guilt, that we can justifiably take their life away? And if we execute people, are we short changing GOD of His opportunity to save them?