For Troy Anthony Davis 2 Poem by Jacqui Thewless

Three mandatory drugs are made in factories
for Georgia’s homicides.

It goes without saying that the crime’s as organised
as the factory lines that make cars.

I want you to pray about this:

at first, the lackeys
strap a living victim to a gurney

as if this was a medical act.
There may be a long wait..

twenty years. In Davis’s case,

we count the torture of three false alarms
designed to destroy the spiritual part.

At a signal, they introduce the first drug
into an artery, via an IV drip. This poison makes you sleep.

If you wake later, there will be no eyes for you to open.

Regardless of the candle vigils of millions,
two medics must agree at this point

that your consciousness has been completely snuffed
and it is safe for them to proceed with the next, lethal, injection

which stops your heart. They need paralysis

before the last drug finishes it. This
is enough.


For Troy Anthony Davis, Martyr.
Murdered 10.53pm 9.21.11.