Damien Echols Death Row Letter, Year 16 1/2 - Johnny Depp/Nick Cave/Warren Ellis

Written by：Nick Cave/Warren Ellis/Jake Jackson

Today

The guards made me bleed again

They chained my feet

So tight

I could barely move

I bleed through my socks

Last month it was my left ankle

Today it was the right

When I wash

The soap burns like fire

But I have to keep my ankles clean

Because I don't have any alcohol

Or peroxide

Nothing to kill the bacteria or infections

And this place is filthy

I can't remember

What it's like

To walk as a

Human being anymore

My cell is so small

That I can only take

Two steps

Anytime I'm brought out

However briefly or infrequently

I have chains on my hands and feet

As well as guards hanging on me

Been well over 16 years since I've actually walked anywhere

Sometimes I still can't wrap my mind around that

I'm working on my 17th year now

There were times when I thought

Surely

Someone's gonna put a stop to this

Surely someone

Is gonna do something

But they never do

Time just rolls on

It's insanity

I am truly amazed

At what they've been allowed to

Get away with

And for how long

Ah well

Does no good to dwell on it

Either I waste my energy by focusing on things I

Cannot change

Or I conserve my energy

And apply it to small

Things I can change

That's what the I ching calls

The taming power

Of the small