Hangmans Noose

This is the most recent of my bedtime stories for ciara :P

Hangman’s Noose

Hangs by

The side of the road

Swinging slowly

A constant reminder

A constant threat

 

Once a month

A cart pulls up

Frail bodies

Hollowed cheeks

Grimy skin

Hands tied

 

 

In the cool

Month of

January

A crowd gathers

Watching

As the first man

Is led forward

The others forming

A line

Behind him

Almost too weak

To stand

 

As they shuffle

Forwards

Their feet sound out

A slow

And steady thump

The beating

Like a drum

Sounding the way

To execution

 

The first man

Steps up

Bag put over

His head

Noose

Tightened

Around neck

 

The trapdoor

Under his feet

Falls away

He hangs

 

A ripple

Passes through

The crowd

A mixture

Of shock

Disgust

And a sick

Perverse

Sort of

Enjoyment

 

His body

Is taken away

And once again

The prisoners

Shuffle forwards

The next man

Stumbling

Toward

Death

Towards

The end

 

Same procedure

Floor falls

Man hangs

 

There is less

Shock this

Time

Among

The crowd

 

And it lessens

Further

As the line

Shortens

The pile of

Bodies

Growing

Until the last

Prisoner

Walks forward

The last

Man

 

Or rather

Boy

 

The thin figure

Can be no more

Than eight

Years old

And this time

The ripple

Asks what

Crime

Such a child

Committed

 

As he steps up

His head is

Held high

His scared eyes

Dark against

The proud

Paleness of his

Fair skin

 

The bag goes

Over his head

The noose

Around his neck

And he waits

Time

Stretching

Torturously

The

Seconds

Lengthening

As

He

Holds

His

Breath

 

The floor falls

The small body

Swings slowly

Limp

Empty

 

The crowd

Disperses

As the dead boy

Is added to

The pile

Just another

Body

Any other

Criminal

 

But not to

The hunched

Figure of a

Women

Still standing

By the

Roadside

Body shaking

With grief

As she watches

The body of

Her son

Taken away

In the same

Cart as he

Arrived in

 

She stands

For a while

Unable to move

Watching

The slowly

Swinging

Rope

Of the

 

Hangman’s Noose

 

 

Reviews

[EMP]

i almost cried! that is such a sad poem? story? both. it's saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad :(