Watching
In Chongjin, North Korea,
a man who stole a metal cable from the coal mine
to sell it for rice
is tied to a wooden scaffold at his ankles
while everyone over the age of 12,
including his wife and daughter,
watches by law.
Four young soldiers line up parallel to the man.
His crime is read,
and each delivers three shots in burst fire
to his head
chest
waist
knees
such that the body folds forward –
there is no other way to describe this –
like a cinnamon roll
where the bread is his body and the syrup blood.
This reddening ball
that was once husband and father,
is then dragged away in a rice sack
the size of a Home Depot leaf bag
while you watch
while you stand there
watching