The Innocent Poet Memorializing Marcellus Williams
Sept 25, 2024
10:30 AM
Washington, DC
Yesterday, on Tuesday September 24, 2024 at 9:10pm EST Marcellus Williams was executed in Missouri after being wrongfully convicted and sentenced to the death penalty in June 2001. The clusterfuck of a case where he was accused of murder has been unraveled in the last 23 years he spent in jail exposing corrupted evidence, unreliable witnesses, and no DNA linking Marcellus to the scene. Yet, the jury took 90 minutes to deliberate before sentencing him to death and 23 years was not enough time to undo it.
Marcellus is not the first, and he won’t be the last. Americans live under the thumb of a white supremacist regime that for the last 300 years has done everything in it’s power to demoralize and dehumanize black people. The literal lynchpin our “democracy” relies on.
For some reason today I was desperate for more than just the headline “Innocent Man Executed” or “Black Man Wrongfully Convicted”. I know what happened but who is he? Who was Marcellus? I started frantically googling “Marcellus Williams childhood” and “More about Marcellus Williams”. Getting result after result with articles about the case, but again I ask who was he? I look at Marcellus and I see my brother, my nephew, my friends, and the DJ spinning last weekend. Three dimensional, whole people more than just the tragedy. People with families, goals, and aspirations. As I dug I found that Marcellus was a poet. His writing struck me so deeply as I read, so beautifully reflective and intricate. He wrote with a sense of loss and yet an underlying hopefulness. I was in awe of the man facing death who still wrote with such humanity in his poem At last…Another’s heartbeat; showcasing the longing we all have to be seen and be loved for it. The Innocence Project who had Marcellus as a client trying to stop the injustice of his conviction, notes “Marcellus Williams doesn’t just read and write poetry for pleasure, for him it is a second language — a tool of communication.” That poetry was a lifeline for him in prison. He was a writer, artist, needing to express himself and expel his creativity into the universe. So this post is for the poet, so somewhere in the abyss of the internet you can search his name and find his art.
Marcellus Williams’ Poetry
At last…Another’s heartbeat
the silhouettes of their bond visible still at the last glow of the sun
they experience each other and the life of the night as it begins to stir
standing there in silence holding hands
no rush to go back inside
there is so much beauty and comfort in being in love and just being…
– amidst sounds of buzzing
chirps
crickets
the pleasant but irregular blowing of the wind
fireflies dancing in step with the light of the moon
how strange it is to become aware of another’s heartbeat but forget one’s own –
finally love.
Reflections of Dementia: Causes of Missing You (Grandfather)
i remember you asking “when was i gonna come and visit?”
such was the moment of realization and it hurt so much to hear it
i imagined you warring with dementia desperately trying to cling to your family-
but hearing your voice had me wondering if i was still a memory?
i can picture you in a photo with the signature Hill head and ears
smiling into the lens with eyes that i believed knew no fear
since you have been gone things have been said – terrible things-
never did i know about the abuse your anger did often bring
so, so many thoughts and emotions are flowing through me right now
never could i imagine hurting those i love still i see no benefit in spending energy on the how
i can only remember you as my first example of a strong man,
an adequate provider,
fearless,
and one who was respected without even trying-
lived into your nineties still getting respect without a memory intact and dying
growing up i have no memories of being hugged or told i was loved
…I love you grandfather but the cycle must be broken with the guidance from above
families in which we are born are a sign of wisdom and what has been decreed
so rights must be fulfilled and limits we must not exceed
i remember you stressing our left handedness as a special connection
even now i can still feel the pride i felt then from this reflection
after knowing so much you revert to knowing nothing
i can’t imagine experiencing a state where it is so difficult to be able to recall something
-or afflicted with a condition where neural pathways have been completely shut off
this is one state in which it means to be lost…
grandfather i haven’t forgotten you and know that i miss you my left handed comrade-
(smile) but may Allaah bless me to always remember you as simply:
Grandad.
The Net Zero/Morality Equation
indeed corruption does appear upon the land and sea
– as a direct result of what hands have done clearly
now a question is asked and put quite simply:
is it possible to return to a state of emission free?
behold the carbon footprint and its manifest distorted body
plaguing and distracting minds with self-inflicted anxiety
with a cognizant-dissonant actuality
along with consumer insatiability
as the thirst for materialism borders on a global norm of insanity
proceeding by far from developed countries
where bureaucracy hinders
limits
or even ignores necessary policy
– that addresses with substance better life quality
countering with comprehensive plans to conquer greenhouse gas
and fragile ecosystems
like carbon removal and low carbon technology
innovative and sustainable solar energy
capable of running power grids to produce conscientious electricity
embraced by a forward thinking industry
– those who partner with scholars
intellectuals
and activists to bring about enhanced efficiency
who will remind the leaders of geopolitics
and geo-economic blocs –
that a 2050 net zero will be an impossibility
or unobtainable reality
absent a serious commitment to uplift and assist the underdeveloped
nations people’s lives and productivity
and without the essential factor of a high standard of morality
We are more than what happens to us and the oppression we face. Art will always be the invisible thread connecting us to our humanity, our soul.
Photo Credits:
Image #1: https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2017/8/23/marcellus-williams-and-the-us-broken-justice-system
Info Credits
Timeline: https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/a-timeline-of-the-events-in-the-marcellus-williams-case/html_465f680b-4386-5a7a-8d67-4e0d439562e4.html
Innocence Project and Marcellus’ Poetry: https://innocenceproject.org/marcellus-williams-on-death-row-poetry-is-a-lifeline/
