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Monday, 29 April 2002
Article written by Edinburgh Evening News in April 2002
Lines from Death Row
By JASON CUMMING
A MOVING poem written by Edinburgh man Kenny Richey on Death Row in the United States in honour of his mother is set to be published.
Ode To A Mum will appear in a book of verse being released in the US later this year.
The convicted child killer - who has consistently maintained his innocence and whom Amnesty International believes was a victim of a major miscarriage of justice - originally presented the work to his mother as a gift.
In the poem, the 37-year-old prisoner praises her for being there "with a gentle touch" during his childhood.
He also thanks her for "understanding" his pain.
Speaking from her home in Dalry, his mother Eileen Richeytoday revealed that she had bitter-sweet feelings about the poem being released to the public.
"It?s a classic that was just for me. He wrote it to me for Mother?s Day and I have it framed up on the wall," she said.
" It was very emotional to read. It broke my heart. But it?s something for him to be proud of. As long as he?s happy, that?s the main thing."
Richey, who grew up in Sighthill but left the city in 1982, was sentenced to death 16 years ago in Ohio. He is being held in the state?s Mansfield Correctional Institute .
Ms Richey added: "Kenny has always been good at drawing and poetry. He used to sit and scribble about and come up with things."
Richey has dedicated several poems to his mother, with other topics including Scottish history, childhood and the torment of awaiting execution for a crime he claims he did not commit.
An excerpt of one fiercely nationalist work, retelling the Battle of Bannockburn, reads: "But that was long ago and we?re now no longer free. Stuck in some old union, in which True Scots don?t want to be.
"Now if those True Scots who fought for freedom, could only see how we've been tamed.
"They'd look upon us in disgust and hang their heads in shame."
Ode To A Mum will appear in an anthology collected by the International Library of Poetry.
A spokesman for the Kenny Richey Campaign today added: "It?s important to remember that Kenny is not just a Scot on Death Row, but a person who loves his mother like everybody else. "
Richey was sentenced to death in 1986 after being found guilty of starting a fire which killed two-year-old Cynthia Collins.
Amnesty International described his case as one of the most compelling examples of a wrongful conviction they had ever seen. A judge last April rejected a bid for retrial, leaving his last option to appeal to the US Supreme Court.
Ode To A Mum
by Kenny Richey
You gave me life, and wept with joy,
Your first born child, a baby boy.
Just one glance and I stole your heart Unconditional love from the start. Throughout the years, you watched as I grew
You were always there, when I needed you. You guided my youth, with a gentle touch. No mother could love a child so much. When I was afraid, you?d ease my fears. When I was hurt, you?d kiss away my tears.
When my heart was broken, yours would break too.
But understanding my pain, you?d always pull me through.
You are the world?s greatest mother in every single way.
And I will always cherish you, ?till my dying day.
For all that you are, and for all that you've done
Forever in my heart, you will be number one.
I LOVE YOU MUM!!!
Ode To A Mum will appear in a book of verse being released in the US later this year.
The convicted child killer - who has consistently maintained his innocence and whom Amnesty International believes was a victim of a major miscarriage of justice - originally presented the work to his mother as a gift.
In the poem, the 37-year-old prisoner praises her for being there "with a gentle touch" during his childhood.
He also thanks her for "understanding" his pain.
Speaking from her home in Dalry, his mother Eileen Richeytoday revealed that she had bitter-sweet feelings about the poem being released to the public.
"It?s a classic that was just for me. He wrote it to me for Mother?s Day and I have it framed up on the wall," she said.
" It was very emotional to read. It broke my heart. But it?s something for him to be proud of. As long as he?s happy, that?s the main thing."
Richey, who grew up in Sighthill but left the city in 1982, was sentenced to death 16 years ago in Ohio. He is being held in the state?s Mansfield Correctional Institute .
Ms Richey added: "Kenny has always been good at drawing and poetry. He used to sit and scribble about and come up with things."
Richey has dedicated several poems to his mother, with other topics including Scottish history, childhood and the torment of awaiting execution for a crime he claims he did not commit.
An excerpt of one fiercely nationalist work, retelling the Battle of Bannockburn, reads: "But that was long ago and we?re now no longer free. Stuck in some old union, in which True Scots don?t want to be.
"Now if those True Scots who fought for freedom, could only see how we've been tamed.
"They'd look upon us in disgust and hang their heads in shame."
Ode To A Mum will appear in an anthology collected by the International Library of Poetry.
A spokesman for the Kenny Richey Campaign today added: "It?s important to remember that Kenny is not just a Scot on Death Row, but a person who loves his mother like everybody else. "
Richey was sentenced to death in 1986 after being found guilty of starting a fire which killed two-year-old Cynthia Collins.
Amnesty International described his case as one of the most compelling examples of a wrongful conviction they had ever seen. A judge last April rejected a bid for retrial, leaving his last option to appeal to the US Supreme Court.
Ode To A Mum
by Kenny Richey
You gave me life, and wept with joy,
Your first born child, a baby boy.
Just one glance and I stole your heart Unconditional love from the start. Throughout the years, you watched as I grew
You were always there, when I needed you. You guided my youth, with a gentle touch. No mother could love a child so much. When I was afraid, you?d ease my fears. When I was hurt, you?d kiss away my tears.
When my heart was broken, yours would break too.
But understanding my pain, you?d always pull me through.
You are the world?s greatest mother in every single way.
And I will always cherish you, ?till my dying day.
For all that you are, and for all that you've done
Forever in my heart, you will be number one.
I LOVE YOU MUM!!!