Shall Ratcliff

I read of your death in a newspaper

Buried by a caved-in trench you were digging

The work you did that day

Did you know, Shall?

It hurt to learn how you were lost that day

That day you went to work.

I knew no more

Until by amazing circumstance

A jury summons brought your story back to me

Foreman to hear a civil case of insurance claim and counter claim

They proposed to offer nothing to the woman

You must have said good-bye to that morning

That day you went to work.

Nothing for the woman who lived with you

And maybe you kissed good-bye that morning

That day you went to work.

We found for her, Shall.

We found that she was yours, Shall

It owed her because you lived with her as your wife

You loved her maybe

On that day you went to work

And that is what we owed you, Shall.

Peter Ahrens

09-26-2012

Nexial Quest (c) Pete Ahrens 1999 - 2014