In Remembrance of Lisa Montgomery
Channel: John Sakars
Date: 2021-01-13

When I crawled this morning out of my warm and cozy bed, 
I turned on my computer, and discovered Lisa's dead. 
I'd tried to remain hopeful, right through every controversy.
Now I'm feeling naive, that I thought the feds would show mercy. 

The people who executed Lisa, how much did they get paid? 
Did they receive overtime pay, when the murder got delayed? 
I don't know what paychecks will say at the end of the week, 
but I know that nobody received the justice we all seek. 

People lost their daughter, mother, grandmother, and sis. 
There are many people who will dearly miss
the woman who enriched their lives with crafts she made by hand.
Word about dear Lisa spread all throughout the land. 

Lisa didn't like the pictures that the media shared, 
of a time when she felt sad and at the camera glared. 
Some people tried to portray Lisa as a cruel person.
They punished her relentlessly. Made her mental health worsen. 

When Trump decided to embark on a federal killing spree, 
the guards took Lisa's eyeglasses, so she could barely see. 
All her coping mechanisms were taken away from her. 
No arts and crafts, and no more books. Just a cold cell to endure. 

I wonder what she thought about during her final days. 
Does she remember her whole life, or are some parts a haze? 
Reading about her life would make anyone feel shaken. 
I shared her story many times, to make empathy awaken. 

But many people did not take the time to read her story. 
Instead, they focused on her worst day, which was indeed gory. 
But as Bryan Stevenson said, while standing in the sun,  
"Each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done." 

A 2004 version of Lisa took away Bobbie Jo's life,
and stole her baby after cutting mother with a knife. 
She brought the baby home and told her husband she was hers. 
That was a lie, and cops arrived and made transfers. 

They brought the baby to her father, and now she is a teen. 
I'm sorry she didn't get to meet her mom. Life can be mean. 
I'm also sorry Lisa's mom did not shower her with love. 
Everything would have been totally different, not just kind of. 

The system failed Lisa at every moment of her life. 
Her childhood was filled with horrors. Every kind of strife. 
Some knew young Lisa was abused, but they did not speak up. 
One day, her mother used a shovel to beat to death a pup. 

I've searched around on Facebook, reading about Lisa's end.
Some people say "justice was served," but I know that's pretend. 
The death penalty aint justice. It is murder, plain and true. 
Today, I sit here wondering what Lisa's loved ones will do. 

To Lisa's family and attorneys, I want to say I'm sorry.
To everyone who fought to save Lisa, thanks for sharing her story. 
It must have been wonderful to be one of Lisa's friends. 
To the people who spoke ill of Lisa, try to see through a different lens. 

Realize that if you were Lisa, you would have done the same. 
When any crime is committed, the whole system is to blame. 
If you support the death penalty, you have work to do. 
My heart aches to imagine the lens you're seeing the world through. 

The U.S. propaganda has infected all our brains. 
We'll spend our whole lives unlearning, 'til only truth remains. 
We need to be anti-racist, and anti-ableist too. 
We need to be anti-oppressive, and compassionate through and through. 

Lisa, Troy, Brandon, Tookie, Aileen, and many other folks, 
we're sorry you got executed. We'll stand like mighty oaks, 
against the evil system that has caused so much pain. 
The death penalty is murder. Please see the truth, it's plain. 

Lisa and Bobbie Jo, you will live on in our memories and deeds. 
We will end this system that's not meeting the people's needs. 
From spanking, to the death penalty, and everything in between,
let's stop punishing altogether. Let's be kind, not mean.

Poem by John Sakars 
Music: Elegy - Asher Fulero, and Nocturne - Asher Fulero