Vigil

by Christine E. Black

9 PM       Quakers sit in silent vigil at the Meeting House to mark the hour of execution when someone in Virginia is sentenced to death. The executions occur at the correctional center in Jarratt, Virginia.

Knit ridges

of a black

 

We watch him go

 

In silence too for deep birds,

wet leaves move softly outside

the black window

of the Meetinghouse

 

Alfredo, his name.

Did his mother choose it?

 

Straps

bind his chest, arms, legs

in that clean

Virginia jailhouse room

bright light

A man held a syringe

into which he pulled

clear fluid

 

The dead,

held down,

shot

 

Now a silence

forbids birds

wet leaves

move softly

outside

the black window

of the Meetinghouse.

 

We gather,

breath, blink

 

hold them,

him. Watch

as he goes.