Death by Hanging in Baghdad
(2006)
I recently read
In the NY Times
Of an Iraqi
Insurgent sentenced
To death by hanging
In a Baghdad
Gallows.
A two inch Hemp rope
Was wrapped around
His neck
And when the lever
Was pulled and
The iron platform
Under his feet dropped
To a loud clank,
The rope broke and
He fell fifteen feet
To a concrete floor.
He shouted
“Allah saved me”
Over and over
And proclaimed his
Innocence.
The executioners
And staff
Debated for an hour
Whether this was a
“Divine intervention”
And he should be
Spared.
If it was God’s fate
To break the rope
It seems he also
Fated another
Attempt or
Was indifferent
Because they tried
A second time
And this time
His neck
Broke
And the rope
Choked
The life
Right out of him.