Death Is Not The Reward Poem by Bernedita Rosinha Pinto

Lest the sword falls,
lest the guillotine drops,
lest the noose tightens,
lest the electric chair electrocutes,
lest the poison injects the veins,
while helplessly he awaits his end.
Tooth for a tooth,
eye for an eye,
death for death....
the barbaric law
the punishments of bygone;
Is it not more justified to impose
a life sentence on him?
Is it not enough that he repents
all his lifetime for the murder he did?
Is it not enough that the picture of his crime
keeps recurring before his eyes?
O' let him live in his prison cell,
let his life not end
instant death is not the reward he deserves.
The better equalizer is the Life sentence
with regrets on one side
and repentance on the other,
his mind holding that dreadful memory
as remorse takes him
to the end days of his very own life;
what better retribution does he deserve
than clearing his own bitterness over the years,
over those horrid recollections?
Let him die his own death in his prison cell
let him know that the death of another
was an act so unforgivable, so unforgettable
that he shall seek pardon day after day
till the breath in him ceases.