Perry E. Williams 
Open eyes 
Through my lens – A glimpse of my world

‘Open eyes’ is my soul laid bare. I cannot remember a time that things didn’t deeply affect me. Although, I could never put it into words. So I punched and kicked walls. I’ve sworn, yelled, bit at the air; and, at my lowest point, tried to end it all. Today, I look at the toll on my body, my scars (inner and outer), and marvel at how I ever ended up in such dark places… and more importantly, how I ever came back from them. I have been incarcerated in prison for the majority of my life under the worst sentence possible: Death! Men with this sentence are relegated to a building that is segregated and isolated from all other prisoners. Thus, the people you meet are also faced with the same uncertainty. Over the years I’ve lost so many friends, and am so troubled by it. I don’t know if I can ever emotionally bond in this place again. I’ve often asked guys who’ve been here longer than me how they do it. I’ve gotten numerous answers. Some discovered God. Some discovered themselves through meditation, art, crafts and creative writing. I’ve tried various forms of religion before turning to Christianity; giving my life to Christ and giving it meaning. I also discovered poetry and creative writing (the language that gives sound to feeling). The fists of my emotions strike the walls inside of me (trapped and wanting out), finally finding a means of expression. ‘Open eyes’ is me, raw and uncut; free and unchained.

Over de auteur

Stefan Heikens is a German activist against the death penalty. He has made it his mission to give the inmates of death row a voice and does this in addition to his work with letters from soldiers in WWII. In doing so, he makes no distinction between guilt or innocence and allows each inmate to speak for himself, because he lives by the principle: ‘You can tell the value of a society by how it treats the weakest of its members.’ There are certainly few people society looks down on more than death row inmates and that’s exactly why they should be listened to! Not every story is black and white and we could all love someone who ends up on death row due to adverse circumstances.

Stefan Heikens lives and works in Germany.