Waking Dreams III
The gallows stand ready -
waiting for dawn's first blush
to pierce the dark of night.
Padre has been and gone,
taking with him my absolved sins
but leaving me guilty as charged.
And yet I feel as innocent of crime
as the first day of Spring.
They come for me and I follow,
hands bound behind.
The executioner says naught -
checks my wrists and places the noose
around my sweating neck.
I refuse the blindfold,
preferring to carry to my end
the memory of vision
and the faces of my accusers.
And so dawn's first rays
strike the gallows beam
and my judge nods assent
to my silent hooded companion.
The lever is pulled
and I feel the sudden jolt
as the platform drops
from beneath my feet
and then darkness once more reigns.
It has been shown
that if the noose does not immediately
break the neck of the hanged man
as the clever placement of the knot
is designed to do,
it can take five agonizing minutes
kicking against the air
until the subject is at last dead.
(to be continued?)
Adding your comment:
