We turn and walk away from the casket.
We never thought it wise
to gaze on the face
of someone who is no longer there.
There’s no stopping it now.
The betrayal has passed
as a fistful of coin
from one woman’s hand to another.
Silence falls
like a cloak around them,
heads bent
as they whisper, conspire.
We are paid to find the unfindable.
Must we wander the world like nomads? We ask.
Our feet answer slowly
by treading reluctantly forward.
We come upon them like contractions
suddenly and without warning.
No longer can they hide their deceit.
We sentence them to wallow in it instead.
Their punishment—
To be cast into the bowels of the earth,
chained to the depths.
We can still hear the links rattle inside our brains.
Their agony is felt
deep within our bones
cracking under the weight of their wailing
which will never be heard.
Katie Farley is an MFA student in Creative Writing at Lindenwood University who loves exploring the spaces where story, nature, and spirituality meet. When she isn’t writing, she can be found reading multiple books of interest or grounding herself by roaming the forest around her home with her two dogs.
