Evening News April 3rd, 2005

The man
husband of the woman
wife of the man
who killed her
his wife
the woman
wife of the man.

He strangled her
with a simple kitchen wire
you know the kind
simple chicken
tie’em up after you’ve stuffed’em
wire.

He strangled her
his wife
strangled by her man
her husband.

The police came
she was dead
circles around her neck
where her skin fought
the wire
simple chicken wire
you know the kind
to strangle your wife with
in the kitchen.

Domestic violence
they call it
the police in their report
and the night before
when the nosy neighbor called
“potential domestic violence”
they’d whispered
to the police
in the telephone
from behind the curtains
watching the man
and the woman
beat each other up
screaming things like murder.

The police came
too early and then too late
and were asked kindly
to mind their own business
and leave, the man
husband of the woman
said to them
and she
“it’s okay … no … really … go away …
yes … Mr. Policeman …
it’s okay … go away …”
said the woman
wife of the man.

The police came back
the following day
with camera crews
and bright television lights
fifteen minutes of fame
red circles around your neck
the woman
wife of the man
the husband
her man
gone
and her dead
with nothing to add
Mr. Policeman
red circles circling her neck
the police
circling her body
with chalk.

copyright 2009 © F.K. Needles — all rights reserved