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A shadow casts over a wall clock that reads 1:14
Photo by Srikanta H. U on Unsplash

I die over a thousand times a day
because there is more than a thousand minutes
within a 24-hour time frame.
Each minute that has passed is resting in Peace.
Each minute that has passed is History.
Instead of thinking of your ultimate death at the end,
think about the second-by-second death that
you’re living.
There really isn’t a difference.
We’ll never know if we’ll wake up again anyways.
I’m nothing more than a deteriorating corpse in motion.
With a heartbeat that can go out any day.
Second by second.
I’ll be labeled a pioneer.
I’m original.
I won’t be dying a copy.
Ten-four, Roger, you copy that?
I’m living out my goals and dreams.
I’ve mastered moonwalking in the rain.
Time waits for no person.
And we die over a thousand times in one day.


This poem inspired by the cover story of the fall 2021 issue of PJPxInside, “Dying in the Samurai Way” by Bob R. Williams Jr.

Disclaimer: The views in this article are those of the author. Prison Journalism Project has verified the writer’s identity and basic facts such as the names of institutions mentioned.

E.D.H.

E.D.H. is a poet who was raised in Compton in Los Angeles. He is currently incarcerated in California. He has asked to be published under his pen name.