Tonight

They will kill a man in Tennessee.

I wish my daughter had chosen another
profession. I wish she did not have to
be standing outside the gates fighting
for his life.

But she will be, and I know she must be.
And I cried with her and I said pray

and she did not have to say anything
though I know she was thinking

and so then I said do what you must
but don't let yourself be alone.

Oh my daughter, I can't know what it is
to walk in your shoes. I can't know what
it is to be the family of the accused or
the family of the victim. I can't know

so many things in my life, but I know this:
the tears flow for you, for him, for his family,
for the family who lost a loved one, for the
executioners, for the cold hard truth

which may be true and may not.