Days before Daniel Lewis Lee became the first federal prisoner executed in 17 years, fellow death row resident Billie J. Allen wrote about the shared terror of wondering who’s next.

A man convicted of murder reflects on his life, his crime and his punishment.

“It was as though a small part of me died with each execution.”

“Only this music captures my bitter, visceral pain.”

“We don’t live on death row; we wait to die.”

Or, what happens when guards and prison staff interact as just human beings.