Jonathan Reed
The Stranger
The door was left ajar

A hasty retreat from the guilt of the vulgar

(And he’d only just begun!)

He’d only just begun

Ceramic shattered tiles
And fibber from carpets
Left crystalline
The tears on her face

This crime carries the face of woman
But the mugshots don’t quite match up with the composite
Compost heap

Punish her

Punish her

Her crime
Left him undead
And his memory lingers in vain

Her crime
Left him undead
And his memory lingers in
Vain
The anemic
Had lost his color
The anemic
Had lost his color
The anemic
Had lost his color
The anemic
Had lost his color

He
(He)
Had
(Had)
Bled
(Bled)
Out
(Out)
Laying in lullabies

He
(He)
Had
(Had)
Bled
(Bled)
Out
(Out)
Laying in lullabies