Suitcase Found
Poor
little box of bones
raped
and smothered
(if
that was the order)
packed
in a suitcase
like
a ventriloquist doll
left
by the side
of
a desert highway
a
thousand miles from home
in
sweltering undiscovery
years
longer than
your
little life had been
no
one missed you
raised
and used like veal
your
mother no help
she
already dead
in
a forest by the same
lover
who stuffed your mouth
with
a tea towel
and
gaffered your head …
he sat emotionless in the dock ...
sorry little box of bones
sorrowful
suitcase
we’re
not all like that
give
us another chance
you
just have to catch us
on
a good day.
* For Khandalyce
and Karlie Pearce-Stevenson,
from a story in the SMH.
from a story in the SMH.
had to be told, or we forget that it matters
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeletesuch horror
suitcase reopened
the case shut
don't forget
to pause
ReplyDeleteand witness
in and out of deluge
-- a big part of our work