Poem: The Silent Witness

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Posted for #firewords280 on Bluesky. The prompt words were "vacant" and "sockets". This is the longer version of the poem (I had to fit it into 300 characters for a Bluesky post).

vacant stare 
from empty 
eye sockets
cracks deep set
across white bone
pieces missing
like a jigsaw puzzle
shattered by time
buried by ignorance
mouth in a 
perpetual grin 
as if humoring
the other unfortunates
scattered around
in unmarked piles
jumbled together
with no rhyme or reason
no dignity or shame
at the end it could have been
any one at any time
past or present
what happened to you 
sword or sickness
treachery or plague
where did you 
meet your end 
on the battlefield
breath rattling out in a bed
the whisper of an axe
whistles on the scaffold
what stories can you tell 
Take your time 
to form your words 
without a voice. 
I can wait.

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