Tragedy Poem by Sally A Mortemore

words. from out of the mouth
of a dead woman.
resound.
and sound.
like foot-fall.

echoes. from within an abandoned hallway.

should she have screamed. no person would
have heard her. should she have cried. then not
a single heart would recognise the marrying
of terror to the courage of her fears —

tears fell
upon the desert
of all hope

yet no one saw their rivers. or the holes
punched deep within the pale and slenderest of flesh.

yet. with this violence

she redeems her child
from howling
saves her mother's life
from falling
into debt.

she dies. but others see her death

as just another headline story. canonised by name
and date upon the cruelty of the stone. this pathway

stained with flowers

from those who
never knew her smile. nor.
ever felt the softness of her
tenderest of fingers

twisting blade

to slice through
skin
and draw her life
in blood.

Sally A Mortemore 2024