K, this ones a little darker than what I usually write, but I'm experimenting a little bit these days. As always, let me know what you think, even if you don't like it. Peace- Chris
There were many people
gathered in the square
when the authorities
rolled out the gallows.
The smell of new blood
and the anticipation of something morbid
had drawn them in like sharks.
Their seperation from the accused
gave them a false sense of superiority.
"The spotlight has not yet fallen upon me.
Surely I am the better man".
The tramps brought with them
their favorite wines.
They looked forward to these events
as for that one day
they were treated almost human,
for the lines had been re-drawn
and they fell for once within the majority,
The "innocent".
Mothers brought their children,
and the children brought their curiosity.
The men brought their animosity,
drooling and barking like dogs.
The children immitate their fathers,
and soon the moral majority
becomes a chaotic mass of panting beasts,
growing angry in their restlessness
beneath the afternoon sun.
At last, a murmur arose
from somewhere in the back of the crowd,
followed by a rolling wall of white noise.
A thousand voices made indistinguishable
by a thousand voices.
At long last,
the prisoner was being led out
to mount his stage.
The man stared out into the crowd
in search of some empathy,
some earthly comfort in this his last moment,
but he found none.
Instead he found laughter.
Instead they threw food at him
and insulted him
and spit on him
and called him a heathen.
"Will this be my legacy?
Is this what I will be remembered for?
Have I brought none but shame to my familys name"?
Many thoughts went through his head
as they dropped the rope around his neck,
gently at first,
and then pulled tightly into place.
His stomach turned
and he vomited violently.
He shook and cried and pleaded his accusers for mercy.
Mercy, which he was never granted.
After all, mercy would have meant
the cancellation of the afternoons entertainment.
