The Dead Body - Poem

The Dead Body

The water is cold and clear
Frozen over by a thick layer of ice
Weeks of cold weather has taken its toll
A child runs out onto the frozen lake
It is like a huge skating rink
To a young child it is fun
A mother shouts loud for her child to get off
One crack in the ice and that could be the end for her only child
Wildlife in the lake is hardly alive
The cold has killed off almost everything
Ducks and swans that usually live on the lake have abandoned it
The bottom of the lake is a mass of weeds and plants, dirt and rubbish
Old bottles and tin cans
Bits of metal and wood
Plastic bags and the odd broken shoe
A layer of mud and dirt mixes with the litter
The clear look on the surface is just a lie
It masks the mess that lies below, near the bottom of the lake
In amongst the weeds lies a body
It has been there for weeks, maybe months
The body has already started to decompose in places
The body is naked, obviously dumped in the water
Someone hopes that it will never be found
The skin is pale the hair is matted
Perfect nails on dirty hands
The weeds have started to grow around the body
They are almost holding the body down in its watery grave
A girl killed in the prime of her life
Under that cold, clear surface a lot of tales could be told
Some good and some bad
For someone the tale is not good or bad, it is a tragic tale of pain and suffering
A young girl’s life is over forever
She will never get a second chance



This piece was inspired by the cover of a book, which showed a lady (dead) floating in a lake.