NEVER GO SO SLOW

 

NEVER GO SO SLOW

There is no comfort in Rope

So let me find it in Nail

Never go so slow sincere executioner! But speedily.

So I sleep so soon and not in pain.

Tell me, oh Learned Man!

Do I have the right to tell how it should go?

If this you must grant me and again none,

Then I shall die smiling, for even in my adversary, so much love prevails.

Oh! How much they are who wait to hear me speak in the dark

But I disappointed them, I never spoke dark speech even in the dark

And today, here I stand in the light to suffer for the truth.

I’m in for it! Only let me tell you how it should be.

So speedily without pain, not with a rope but a Nail from Kalashnikov.

CONTENT/POETIC ANALYSIS

I just want to remind us today that we don’t own this world, so we shouldn't carry it on our heads. We are only a player: "All the world's a stage, and all men and women merely players" — William Shakespeare's(As You Like It).

I won’t really spend much time analyzing the poetic ingredients in this piece, I just want to pass a message.

This piece is a homage to those who've lost their lives for telling the truth or were wrongly executed because justice or our legal system failed(Read: Wrongful Execution- TCAPD), and a consolation for those who've lost their loved ones due to the aforementioned situation. Take heart, be consoled!

Never go so slow (Composed: December 2025) has 3 stanzas, the first 2 stanzas are quatrains, while the last stanza is a Quintet.

This piece, which is set in a courtroom, features the Poetic Persona who had just been found guilty of a crime he never committed, and a Judge who had just passed judgment against him. In the presence of so many witnesses in the Court, his lawyer by his side. The ruling is that he should be executed by hanging.

He (the poetic Persona) turned to his lawyer having listened to the Verdict by the Jury and said:

Look, I don’t like it when a rope is hung around someone’s neck, and he is subjected to pain, I would rather be shot instead of being hanged. His reason is that it takes time before someone who’s hanged to give up the ghost compared to someone who's shot. Therefore, he should be shot(he prefers a bullet thrust into his body), so he dies speedily rather than slowly, where he will face pain in the face of death. This was his plea to the jury.

You can see in Stanza 2, he (the Poetic Persona), speaking to his lawyer, asked; Learned Man! Do I have the right to tell how I want to be executed(die)? If only this can be done for me, even if it's the last touch of love they can show me, then I shall die in this adversary with the belief that even in death I was shown love.

In the last Stanza, he turned to the courtroom, wearing a smile on his face like Socrates did, having already known his fate in death(narrated in Famous Trials), read also: THE APOLOGY- by Plato. And then he said, “Many persons here had already ruled in their heart that the said crime, 'I have committed', even before the court said 'Yes', that I did. They came in their numbers to hear me say, "Yes", or "NO".

I know some are disappointed at me, even as I've disappointed them, because a lot had rhetorically asked themselves: couldn't he just lie this once and be free? But, I failed them, I said the truth, I said what I knew!

I know that death awaits me, even as I've been told. My Lord, only let me tell how I want to be executed! 

I want it so speedily without pain. Not with a rope (hanging) but with a Nail (bullet) from Kalashnikov: Kalashnikov was a Russian designer, the brain behind the design of the assault rifle AK-47.

I know that this piece will be read by millions, perhaps even by those to whom it was written. Maybe you find yourself in a situation where death is inevitable(I know it is, but when it does come matters), and all you have left is the voice that will speak for or against you, whether in life or death.

"Dying doesn't mean you are worse a sinner, and living doesn't make you a saint. What matters is a still small voice, whether it speaks good or ill of you".

"If on you the chain of death is hung, be console! If then you carry it for another, be consoled too!"

Does it sound like this piece is addressed to you, will you be willing to share with us in the comments section? We would love to hear it.

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You would love to read: ADULTERERS(a poem about the consequences of infidelity in marriage)