Waiting

Poem read by Josh Noble at the Fast & Vigil Rally on July 1st, 2002

Did I relinquish my relationship with humanity
When I bludgeoned a midnight watchman
on a dare?

After three thousand six hundred seventy
Days of perpetual monotony
Where time is passed reading
Reminiscing, repenting and attempting
To stop sanity from slipping past the bars
My keeper’s footsteps which are chillingly
Recognizable, methodically approach.

The size ten steel toe
Work boots deliver my final sustenance:
Charcoaled Cajun catfish, mashed
Yams, fresh collard greens and beer,
Non-alcoholic.

My final visitor clad in a sympathetic black
From shirt collar through his nine
Size rubber soul loafers
Offers solace and salvation to my dammed soul.

Its time, says the warden
But I cannot stand.
Fear has paralyzed my legs and feet,
But all is not lifeless.
A warm stream trickles down my right leg.
If I could remember my first steps as a baby
These would certainly be more difficult.

This room does not look As grisly as in my dreams,
But more like a dentist’s office
With a window where my friends can offer support,
But most of these people are not my friends.