Your honor

your honor

since i’ve been convicted of murder

and have taken time to digest

just what that means

after noting what it means to my family

and how it affects people who read the newspapers

and all

i see now that i’ve made a terrible mistake!

and didn’t approach this trial

in a respectful, deliberate or thoughtful manner

didn’t take advantage of the best legal advice

and based my actions on irrelevant matters

which i can see now in a much more sober mind

had nothing to do with this case

i must have been legally insane thinking about:

the twenty five murders of children in atlanta since

Wayne Williams’ capture

the recent murder of a man in boston by the police

the recent murders of two in chicago by police

the shooting of a five-year-old little boy in suburban calif

the lynchings in alabama

the mob murder of a transit worker in brooklyn

the murders of fourteen women in boston

feeling that this is evidence of something

and that there must

be a lesson in all this — i thought

murder was legal

Kuwasi Balagoon

(Picture: Carousel, Sue Coe)