I am writing this letter to you from death row,
The last day of my life.

Yes in just a few short hours, I will walk down 
that long corridor to the gas chamber.
No priest will escort me, giving me comfort 
or prayers for my soul.        
No family will visit me or even miss me 
when I am gone.

My 'family' abandoned me long ago.
As a matter of fact, I doubt anyone will even
 give me or my death even a passing 
thought after today.
The saddest fact in this whole matter is,
that I am innocent.

I have done no crime, yet today, I will die 
in the gas chamber.
I know that others have said, "I am innocent" 
all the way to their deaths, but in my case, 
it is the truth.

Let me take you back through my life, 
tell you my story.
Please take the time to read it, then you decide 
for yourself whether or not I deserve to die.

I do not know my parents.  I doubt that they even 
remember me.  I do not think that my parents 
knew each other for very long.
My birth was just a tragic beginning 
of a tormented life, conceived by strangers.

I know that my father was not around for my birth,
and my mother did not stick around for very long after.
I guess I cannot really blame my mother, 
she just could not take care of me.

As a youngster, I seemed to just 'fall through 
the cracks' of the system.
I wandered around aimlessly looking for food 
and shelter, anywhere I could find it.
Every once in a while a kind person would try 
to help me out, but it was always temporary sympathy, 
and then they would be on their way, 
leaving me just alone as ever.

As fate would have it, I wound up pregnant, 
it was a hard pregnancy.
I never seemed to get enough to eat, 
and having no permanent home, 
I was always exposed to the weather.       
I actually slept outside 
throughout my entire pregnancy.

No medical care was available to me, 
my first pregnancy produced two beautiful babies,
but like my own mother, I could not care for them.
I do not know what eventually became of my babies.
As a matter of fact, I have given birth on three separate 
occasions and I do not know where 
any of my babies are now.

Shortly after my third pregnancy, my health suffered badly.
I did not know how to get medical attention 
and nobody offered to help me.
I was very malnourished and extremely weak.

One particularly bad day, I was stumbling around 
the streets, very tired, very hungry, 
and very weak. 
I guess I just was not paying attention, but I stepped out 
into the street. An oncoming car tried to stop 
but it was too late.
I was knocked down and I felt a terrible pain in my leg.  
I was sure it was broken.

The car kept going and once again I was in terrible trouble.
I knew I had to get out of the street, 
so I dragged myself to the curb.
Once again, I needed medical treatment, but it seemed 
once again, not one person was willing to help me.
Time marched on and I continued 
to struggle along.
I was hanging out on the street 
one night and I was picked up by a man.

He seemed nice enough at first, he took me home with him, 
offered me food and shelter, 
so I decided to hang around for a while. 
I am not really sure what I did wrong, but 
after a while he said he was tired of me 
and could not afford to have me around and that 
I would have to go.

We got into his car and drove to an old deserted road 
and he put me out.  He just left me there.  
I was all alone again.

After several long days, I found my way to the nearest city. 
I thought I would find somebody to help me out of this 
"Hell on Earth" 
that I found myself living in.
Eventually the police, who had seen me hanging out 
on the streets for several days, picked me up 
and took me to this horrible prison, where I 
find myself now.

 I have been here for about a week, and nobody has told me 
what wrong I have committed.
I sleep. eat, and relieve myself in my little cell. 
The smell is horrible and it is so very noisy here. 
All the other prisoners cry and call out endlessly. 
It seems that I am being punished for simply being born. 
How can this happen in such a 'civilized' world? 

So, now that you have heard my story, 
what do you think?
Do you think I must be violent, that maybe 
I am a bank robber or a drug dealer, or maybe 
even a murderer?

 

Whatever you think, do not feel sorry for me....
Maybe I will find peace in death 
that I never found in life. 

By the way, I am not a bank robber, 
a drug dealer or a murderer,
I am not even human.....

I am a Dog....

Author Unknown

If anyone knows the author of this inspirational poem, I would
appreciate you emailing me with the author's name so that I  can
place the appropriate credit on this page.