The Hanging
#5
(08-15-2021, 07:31 AM)Gerryswo Wrote:  Hi,

This is my first posting. I'm not sure I'm posting in the right place. I'm hoping someone will tell me if I'm doing this wrong.

THE HANGING

Arms and legs spread wide
the body floated down the smooth river
like the Vitruvian man,
gracefully undulating in the gentle waves.
Caught in the swirl of a persistent eddy
it turned as if on a Lazy Susan
and found itself being pushed down a tributary, feet first,
like a breeched birth.
A silk scarf,
wrapped twice around its puffy white neck,
brilliant orange
against the sky reflected blue of the river,
snagged on a length of detritus jutting out from the shore;
a dead tree branch.
The arms and legs of the body collapsed together
like a closed jackknife
as it tried unsuccessfully to obey the will of the moving river
and continue downstream,
but found itself instead swaying in the water as if it had been hanged.
 
Not long before,
a man had stood,
wavering,
atop the flat rusted guard rail of a railroad bridge.
He’d held tight to an angled green support rod for temporary balance.
Listening for a moment to the lure of a dark river
temporarily swallowed in shadow,
he’d finally leapt out over the black ribbon of waterThe note that he’d thought would remain behind,r
instead followed him down,
drifting like a leaf,
landing softly in the water.
It followed him like a little white raft
before gradually slipping beneath the water like an eye closing.
So much that's good here. Just needs a slight collapse. 
For example:
Snagged a dead branch
And stuck, gently swinging
As if hung
Reply


Messages In This Thread
The Hanging - by Gerryswo - 08-15-2021, 07:31 AM
RE: The Hanging - by CRNDLSM - 08-15-2021, 07:57 AM
RE: The Hanging - by Gerryswo - 08-15-2021, 10:26 AM
RE: The Hanging - by TranquillityBase - 08-15-2021, 08:57 AM
RE: The Hanging - by James Rhys - 08-15-2021, 04:17 PM
RE: The Hanging - by Knot - 08-15-2021, 08:16 PM
RE: The Hanging - by Gerryswo - 08-16-2021, 07:42 AM
RE: The Hanging - by Knot - 08-16-2021, 07:18 PM
RE: The Hanging - by TranquillityBase - 08-17-2021, 01:56 AM
RE: The Hanging - by Knot - 08-17-2021, 01:58 AM
RE: The Hanging - by TranquillityBase - 08-17-2021, 03:46 AM
RE: The Hanging - by Knot - 08-17-2021, 07:20 PM
RE: The Hanging - by Gerryswo - 08-19-2021, 08:23 PM
RE: The Hanging - by Knot - 08-20-2021, 01:10 AM
RE: The Hanging - by Gerryswo - 08-20-2021, 04:42 AM
RE: The Hanging - by Gerryswo - 08-19-2021, 06:54 AM
RE: The Hanging - by Quixilated - 08-19-2021, 08:30 AM
RE: The Hanging - by Gerryswo - 08-24-2021, 11:54 AM
RE: The Hanging - by Tiger the Lion - 08-16-2021, 07:50 AM
RE: The Hanging - by busker - 08-22-2021, 02:47 PM
RE: The Hanging - by Beowulf - 10-11-2021, 06:30 AM



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