True Crime
The body of a young woman lying beneath a power line
At 10:45 on the 27th day of January 1980
Two boys out dirt-dogging in a remote area
Off Bellvue Avenue thought they had discovered
A dead animal because of the unpleasant smell
The individual was wearing blue jeans
A maroon jacket and platform shoes
She had perfect teeth and a deformed toe
Churchgoing championship swimmer cheerleader
The white female had left her place of
Employment at the Daytona Dog Track
She talked of making contacts so that she could
Get mushrooms for use as a hallucinogenic drug
Somewhere on her aimless ramblings beachside
The happy project took a dark turn
Her 1973 powder blue Plymouth Duster
With Craig or Slider disk mags was
Abandoned behind the Azalea Motel
At Interstate 75 and U.S. 84
She was obviously headed home to
Sew her cheerleading outfit
When her car malfunctioned
Her trip had caused her to miss Sunday
School for the first time in ten years
She had only taken her silver Timex watch
A sleeping bad and two bathing suits
No stranger to the Disco Room
At the Holiday Inn Boardwalk
How did she like life
She sat alone and seemed melancholy
She started to get on the crabby side
Her time was up but she didn’t know it
Approximately one year earlier a woman’s
Purse had been found in the woods on
The west side of the south bound lane
Along with a book of matches printed with
The name Mandarin Motel on South Atlantic
Avenue in Ormand Beach leading the authorities
To the demonic individual who committed
This despicable deed a gang member whose
Girlfriend operated as a prostitute
Did something happen to him as a baby or what
His parents thought they could raise him their way
Not knowing what was to happen in the future
He found the socialization process difficult
If not impossible leading him to discharge an
Intolerable schizophrenic anger with unnecessary
Ferociousness and to carry out senseless crimes
Which were basically anti-social acts allowing him
To enjoy a sense of calm or even gratification
He never really gave the thing any thought
Until he was on Death Row
Then everything hit him at once
Eight seconds of 2,300 volts and 9 ½ amps
In a 24’ by 60’ trailer
No sense going into detail because
It’s old hat now
This poem was created using material from the book “I would Find a Girl Walking” by Kathy Kelly and Diana Montane
