ODE Poem: gabrielle, by Gabrielle Palmer

i said, that girl is dead. he strangled her, and then he left her body in the woods. well, i seriously hope not, said my coworker, and she did sound hopeful but i scoffed. trust me. they’ll find her in a few months, or maybe next spring when the ice melts. the part that i didn’t say out loud- she’s been missing three weeks;

her face is unrecognizable; her knuckles are only useful to crows and coyotes as dice in games of cho-han. they will scatter their game pieces in frustration when vice-bored vultures swoop down toward the mess of her clothes to finish her off. later some unlucky man will be tasked with finding and polishing them, until all

the tiniest pieces of her can be studied like rare agates. until he can tell those of us waiting, for an ending that we know will be tragic, just how terrified she was when she died. or until he can tell you, in any case. i knew well before the coroner did that he strangled her and left her body in grand teton.

Author: poetryfest

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