The Carnifex's Cross

Carnifex: an ancient Latin word for executioner.  

I.  
 
The carnifex is proud and sweet,  
a happy man of noble meat...  
So sing the crowd around the stage,  
a mob of kinds dullard to mage.  
 
The prisoner is piñata,  
a bulging straw design  
filled with obscene stigmata:  
a blood unsanctified.  
 
II.  
 
The sacred axe is raised and poised  
above the clean, soft neck.  
 
A string of hesitation falls between  
it and its new client,  
the penitent so helpless that  
a robin on a balcony  
catches the carnifex's eye:  
perched on the rough wooden rail  
it looks as frail as the convicted.  
 
III.  
 
This is the cross of he who kills  
yet owns a living soul:  
the robin trills  
and gains notice, compassion taking toll.