Alden Nowlan's "The Executioner"

This isn't a book, sadly; nor is it even part of a collection that has anything else like this poem with it. I think I'd probably get pretty freaked out if I read an entire book of disturbing poetry, though. Anyway, to counteract any holiday spirit to which I or any of you might be falling prey, I thought I'd post this poem. I first heard it in elementary school, as we were studying some of ...