The Hanging

The jury was unanimous Twelve cried out justice Guilty It was just before the changing hour The hanging planned for quarter past midnight or so The moon was full, the shining light exposing deaths dance The grim reaper was ready, one more for his collection I was ready for this moment Ready to face my freedom and my death Long ago, a mirror shattered into twelve pieces Twelve faces who said I have to go Twelve past the midnight hour Sacred ghosts haunting twilight hours Whiskey filling the soul soon to be departed The hangman at the ready with a somber face For his duties he did not so much embrace This evening he knew the hanging would take all effort Of spirit and determination To send this one of to his eternal damnation He was shivering and I sensed in fear As I stared at him solemnly in the mirror We both eye to eye knew this day would come The hangman and me, conscious of the sum So the note was neatly written The whiskey bottle all alone, empty on the floor I stood bravely or maybe cowardly Upon the wooden chair The rope I wrapped around I my neck As the hangman in the mirror was in despair I patted him on the back and said no worries my friend This, you see is the end of it all All that we ever both wished or dreamed A week or two later They found the hangman A rope around his neck Staring blanking in the mirror A note on the bedside table Told this story as you hear A man with a broken heart Hanged because of his own mutilated reflection