Despite being the most obvious, the most interesting thing in the poem may be the repetition of "I am not a witness", followed by the final "I am a witness". Perhaps the narrator (whom I presume to the the cook) is conflicted about whether or not her is in any way responsible for the deaths. A witness is expected to step in and do something. He is justifying his lack of action by saying "I am just the cook" and thinking he is not involved. However, at the end of the poem, he realizes that he is very involved and very responsible for the deaths and he should have stepped in and stopped the murder of this man. The author of the poem seems to be saying that EVERYONE is responsible for murders justified by capital punishment, whether you do or don't support the death penalty.
The cook's situation of being surrounded by death has resulted in his strange ideas about death. He obviously feels very different about death than the average human does.
The speaker gradually shifts from feeling unresponsible for the deaths for the inmates to feeling responsible.
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