The building is plain,
But you would never fail to notice,
Tan bricks mostly,
And the windows are few,
Tall chain-link fence to deter escape,
Concertina wire douses even the hope.

A single steel door to enter,
But no guarantees that you'll ever leave,
For the locked doors are guarded
By chilled hearts watching, always
Watching, through camera lenses
Mounted high above.

A lifeless voice on the speaker,
And a cold metallic click of the lock,
Allows you to enter
As your heart gallops,
Even though you do not dwell within,
For therein lies death,
Some still breathing,
But dead, nonetheless.

The corridor is long and lonely
As an icy draft blows through.
You can smell fear on the breeze;
Panic, as you follow the yellow line,
And keep your hands to your side.
This is death row, man,
And I would not wander here,
If I were you.

Three checkpoints and you're there,
Without seeing another soul.
And kind faces are rare, for sure,
On death row.
Guard and killer alike,
Locked in a struggle of evil will,
Just to pass the time.

From cell to cell I travel,
Bearing medicine for the condemned,
A sad irony, I think,
As we keep you healthy for the kill.
But I never made the rules,
And I did not decide what is humane
And what is not.
And so I travel from block to block,
And I see you,
And hear you speak.
And I encapsulate my soul,
That I might not catch
The disease of the blighted spirit.

Complexions here
Cannot be described,
For you are pale beyond definition.
Sallow, you are,
With bloodshot eyes,
That bear no hope
As you wait,
And pray,
That the tale of forgiveness
Is true .

Despair is not greater
Than you find it on death row.
You have been abandoned
By even the most loyal of souls.
And on and on it goes,
As you rot
Surely from within,
And you know that your crime
Was committed in a better time,
For no man
Bears well, the rigors of death row.

Let me out
For I am breathless,
And no consideration brings relief.
Thou shalt not kill;
Your crime, and ours,
And only speculation as to who is right.
The Reaper prowls at night,
And is around the corner
In the light,
And there is no peace for those who are
Chained on death row.