Hanged, Drawn, and Quartered

Make of this what you will.

A sinner’s place is in the sky,

Those who sin shall be punished.

Those who kill another man,

Woman,

Or child,

Shall be punished,

                They said

                With hatred in their eyes.

And those who sin against their master,

Their monarch,

Shall suffer His Majesty’s wrath,

                They said.

Death,

With the eyes of everyone upon them,

Shall be their punishment �"

Nothing less, nothing more.

 

                And so it happened,

                The 21st day of the eighth month,

                King William’s day,

                The whole land set out

                To bring peace and justice

                To our loved and our beloved.

 

                The whole world watched that day,

                The whole world watched.

                As we brought justice

                In the name of our King.

                In the name of our King, we did.

 

He who is unfaithful to our King,

He who is unfaithful,

Must be punished,

                They said.

He shall be brought to his knees,

Humiliated before his country,

Humiliated before the very people

Whom he has betrayed.

He shall not be spared,

Not when he begs,

Not when he howls,

Not even when he pleads for mercy.

Mercy will not bring justice,

                They said.

We will watch him die.

 

                The whole world watched that day.

                With bloodlust in their eyes,

                They cheered us on

                As we avenged

                The death of our King.

 

                I saw the blaze

                Before it happened.

                I saw the pain

                In his eyes.

                But I also saw

                The venom in theirs.

                And when he killed

                Our land’s spirit,

                He too

                Felt the hatred

                That they do now.

                They don’t realise,

                But I do.