The Hangman’s Altar

by Mark Tulin

A genocide of emotions,

headstones of innocence,

unwanted traumas,

burnt memories

at the hangman’s altar,

where smoke billowed

from the burning pages

of Shakespeare

and Chaucer,

store windows broken,

loss and denigration,

humiliation on the heels

of black boots

and distorted glory,

skeletons stacked high,

bones crossed, and ligaments

dangled from deli hooks.

I saw the world's annihilation

in one blackened sky.