H
We guess, but his sickening grin
Widens as he adds one to his box
And hangs the head of the man in pen

A
We guess again, but he laughs
Not even close, so he adds one more
And hangs the torso of the man in pen

N
We shout, getting nervous now
His grin drops as he fills in a blank
And twirls the pen yet in his hand

G
We hoped this was hope
But the grin is back
He hangs one arm of the man in pen

M
We gulp, we can’t let go
His grin disappears once more
As he fills the blanks and twirls the pen

You can give up now,
He slyly says,
You can give up now and I’ll drop this pen

N-O
We respond, a defiant humph
But he points to the N and cackles
You don’t stand a chance

O
We proclaim, we won’t take this anymore
We’ll guess this, you’ll see
Though another arm is hanged of the man in pen

Two legs left,
He slyly says,
You can give up now and I’ll drop this pen

N-E-V-E-R
We respond, a defiant humph
But he points to the N and cackles
You don’t stand a chance

E
We shout
V
We shout
R
We don’t stop
As he fills in two blanks
But draws one in the box
And hangs the leg of the man in pen

We stare at the blanks
We squint
He snarls, go ahead

We guess
He gasps

The man in pen is free at last