[Pixabay](https://pixabay.com/photos/search/chair/)
Three words that convey
the burden of conclusion,
echoing corridors
lined with last appeals.
The trip is brief.
Twenty-seven moves
from cellular to leather throne,
every one measured in heartbeats.
Witnesses congregate behind glass.
some tearful, some stern-faced,
all complicit in this ritual
from authorized ending.
The chair patiently waits.
arms spread like those of a priest.
loose straps hanging
like incomplete petitions.
Take the chair, they say.
as though it were a present.
as though sitting down
might simplify death.
To view sunsets
via familiar windows.
Not this electric judgment,
this ultimate seat
Where fairness and revenge
blur into voltage.
The space empties gradually.
just leaving the chair
patient, waiting,
for the upcoming ruling.
Certain seats lull us to sleep.
This one rocks us
Into permanent darkness,
into the silent after.