---

Here I lie a broken man

Haunted by thoughts of what I am

If I die today what words would pass

As my soul takes leave

Of cruelty or compassion

Of punishment, or reprieve

The sleeping beast of karma

Behold the broken sutra

Abyssal torment of the unknown

Strips my body of its essence

Breathe the stench of putrescence

Unknown legacies toil

Abandoned, decay, despoil

Redemption furtive in its last embrace

Disgrace

Changing face of a killer in a cold cell

An old man bound by his own hell

Redemption furtive in its last embrace

Flesh takes leave of mind

Reputation the last refuge of the willful blind

Thoughts unkind

Saints and tyrants, peace of death reminds

Of life, death reminds

Intrinsic anguish of the sight

Of one so cruel transformed in spite

Decades in darkness brought to light

Time's wrinkle smoothed, a last respite