The park gardeners found his body that morning with nothing to say who he was. A vagrant no doubt, with empty Bourbon bottle and a tattered bedroll. The police were called and his body was taken to the morgue and they were no wiser as he had nothing to identify himself. There was no address, no letters just a rusty penknife, a few coins and a tatty bible with a scribbled name inside that was unrecognisable.. An ambulance now appeared and the team placed him on the stretcher and put his few belongings in a bag before taking him to the mortuary. He was kept there until the police had made their enquiries before interring John Doe. Clearly he had had a hard and grim life with no one to care for him. A photo of him was put on show to find anyone who knew or had met him but no-one provided any further information. When all the investigations were over a simple burial of his ashes was carried out in a pauper's grave. Barely three people were there and an old lady standing some way off. She used to let him have unsold bread and cakes from her shop at closing time.
None knew who he was
His body was found that day
With Bible in hand
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I love the mix of poetry and prose - what a sad story but written with great tenderness
ReplyDeleteSo sad this is the final outcome to so many lives these days. I was moved by the line about the woman who gave him unsold baked goods. I'm glad he at least had one person who would notice his absence.
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