-- DEAD MEN TELL NO LIES --

By John Herlihy

The dead man cast no aversion,

In a new life now, another version.

The two thieves rifled his pockets,

Eyes still open with empty sockets.

One man had a face most eager,

The second looked like a beaver.

What is it that they hoped to find,

He no longer had an ax to grind.

But find they did in a vest pocket,

A diamond lodged in a small locket.

The cleverer one scratched a glass,

No doubt, he was thinking very fast.

A whisper thin line like a single hair,

The thief stared with an unholy glare.

He cleaned the stone with a wet lick,

The dumb one looked a little off, sick.

“Think anyone know of this,” he said?

His eyes innocent, but his heart bled.

The other said, “No one around to see.”

“No one,” he mocked, “but thee and me.”

And then the beaver-face suddenly knew,

A story told: He the one his friend slew.

- - - - - -

(c) John Herlihy 9 February 2019