For years I have pulled the rope to snap the cord of life

As people with facesmasked were sentenced to death

These were criminals deserving the end received

And even in the early days of performing

This unpleasant task I was never repelled

It was not brutality, not barbarianism

It was furthering the act of justice and my duty

So my hands never trembled on the rope

and my stomach never turned at the inhumane task

That I performed mechanically with alacrity

And no pity or repentance in my soul

Truth and justice were the closest to God

And I was an instrument used to met out justice

But today my hands shook on the rope

And my eyes misted for the first time

I was hesitant , reluctant to perform my duty

A smiling innocent face, now masked, fleeted before my eyes

Pleading eyes of another begging for pity haunted my thoughts

My heart knew that I  was doing if not a crime , a sin

An innocent wrongly convicted soul  would die today

And I would be the instrument of taking his life

I knew I would not be able to look myself in th eye

To be proud to be a medium of justice

This was a blemish on my spotless career

And I was bound to burn in the fires of hell for it

Yet I was bound by he shackles of duty

And with closed eyes and shivering fingers

I pulled on the lynching cord of death…