THE GRAVEDIGGER

The Gravedigger buries
Both the living and the dead,
In unmarked graves.

Every night he digs
Another grave to fill,
With any fresh corpse.

When he finds no corpses
He hunts down the living.
To create newly dead.

Uninterred bodies
Are quickly buried deep,
Along with living folk.

No sooner is one grave
Filled to his delight,
Than another is dug.

Never satisfied
He must keep digging graves;
And must keep filling them.

He haunts the dark night
Looking for fresh road-kill,
New hit-and-run victims.

Or victims of drowning
Decomposing bloated corpses,
Washed to shore.

Or lovelorn suicides
Hanging in dark attics,
In homes or at work.

When he finds nothing
No corpses to inter,
He gladly makes his own.

THE END
© Copyright 2021 Philip Roberts
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia