“Electrocution” - a poem

No grunting axe,
No choking noose,
Flip a clean plastic switch:
Jaw-breaking spasm,
Oozing shit
Eternal shuddering twitch.
Smoke from the head,
Sizzling skin,
The stench of boiling piss.
Sacco, Vanzetti,
Julius and Ethel,
TomDickandHarry,
And Rose.

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Peter Rosenthal

Professor Emeritus of Mathematics (University of Toronto), retired lawyer and social justice activist. Authored math textbooks, legal articles and some fiction.