Book of Short Stories and Poems

*TW: attempted su1c1de and d34th* Poem: Hangman

In primary school we played a game
It was called hangman
Guess the letters and spell a word
If you're wrong...
A man died

At first they were my friends
But after a while
They'd gather round in a circle
To stone me till I cried
It was okay at first
Or was it?

Each letter I got wrong
Became the stepping stone for a marvelous event...
The hanging of a crimnal.
First the rope,
Then the chair
Sorry, I forgot about the post
Where the rope was hung.

Day by day her spirit broke.
Eventually, it was time.
The innocent 10 year olds gathered
On the final day
To play a game of hangman

The criminal walked to her death
One step at a time.
She stood on the chair
And my mother let out a scream
As I played my final game of hangman.

The others laughed and spat at me
As my parents lifted me into an ambulance.
"We didn't do anything",
"She deserved it"
They cried as they played their final game of hangman.
The game resumed a year later.

Only this time
They chose an entirely new victim...

To hang