Leaving Death Row

By Reginald S. Lewis

Some reviews:

This book is truly an insight into the world of not only an incarcerated man, but a black man on death row. Lewis speaks honestly, clearly and uncompromisingly about the realities of death row, imprisonment and the conditions that see over two million people, mostly black and brown, caged there. If we are to ever get at the root cause of the boom in the prison industry, we won't get there through get tough on crime laws. It will be by humanizing those who are in that system, and that is something that Lewis does with talent and compassion.

I enjoyed this book immensely. The author has a way of bringing out the truth and touching the heart and soul. His language is powerful and direct. Reginald Lewis truly loves his craft. I'm very pleased to have been introduced to this author and his writing style.

You don't have to be a poet or a lover of poetry to understand or appreciate this book. Lewis' images are vivid, often cinematic and continuously palpable, harnessed by emotion.. Is Lewis off death row? What happened? Was he exonerated? Was his sentence commuted to life? But after reading through these poems, the meaning becomes clear. Lewis hasn't left, but he leaves all the time.    

His work, moving and soul searching, reeks with a rare talent.. To miss reading this very moving and inspiring book would be an injustice to the author.

Several poems touched me deeply...His poem, "Where Are You Now?" (For Aunt Mariah) speaks eloquently of the feelings we have when a loved on is dying and the deep sense of loss when it is over..

On Death Row in prison in Waynesburg, PA, the author's collections of 53 poems covers a broad range of topics and emotions, many of them, as you would expect, reflect the surreal terms of existence experienced on death row.

This book (ISBN: 1587216779) is available through AuthorHouse.