Hard Ends 
Henry Burt Stevens
10/22/03

My grandmother knew
how to make it work
slash both wrists at
the same time and lie
down on the kitchen floor

For years she'd threatened
her son and daughter
"Stop, do as I say
or I'll kill myself"

My father's business
partner sat in the
barn doors of the high drive
with a shotgun across
his lap for weeks on end
till one day he swallowed
the muzzle with his toe
on the trigger

One day, walking to school
at 8 o'clock in the morning
I saw a man swinging
by his neck from the top
back porch of the three decker
that housed the Post Office
 
The law's against it and
it's a taboo too
in the military it's a
court martial offense,
misusing government property

The final act of personal
protest, an ultimate act
of personal freedom

taking prisoners for life
of those left behind whose
pain will just begin.