By Hannah Ruth Roddy
–
On a twisted tree behind the moor,
A dead girl hangs, swinging like an open door.
She used to play alone in the trees and the bracken,
Mother would say “be home before the sky starts to blacken.”
One day a convict came along, his broken prison chains clanging;
When he was done, he left the dead girl hanging.
–
Birds perched around the branch, heads hung low,
Their daytime friend was now as cold as snow.
Swinging from the tree, this time by her neck,
Waiting for more of the living to discover this dead wreck.
The birds on her branch sang a song from the spring;
When they were done they left the dead girl hanging.
–
Her mother grew fearful when the sun had set,
The sky was dark and her girl not home yet.
She ran out scared to her daughter’s tree,
Discovered the hanging girl in all her lifeless glory.
Her mother wept into the grass until her eyes were bleeding;
When she was done she left the dead girl hanging.
–
Days went by and no one took her down,
A dead queen of the tree with a noose as a crown.
Her mother passed by the tree every single day,
She screamed and cried, the killer had a debt to pay.
People would stop and be shocked into staring;
When they were done, they left the dead girl hanging.
–
A month had passed and the girl was still there,
Body starting to decay, it was a horrid affair.
Her uncle helped her mother dig a grave in the soil,
They laid the girl to rest, brought an end to this turmoil.
Her mother still distraught, such a poor being,
Looked to the tree, still saw the dead girl hanging.
–
Do not think this is the end, they say the tree is cursed,
That girl wasn’t the last, it’s a shame she was the first,
A new child now plays by the haunted tree,
Harmless and sweet, running wild and free.
Can you hear that? It’s the convict’s chains clanging;
Give it time dear reader, she will be the next girl hanging.
–
Hannah Roddy is 19 and a second year student studying English and Creative Writing. Find more of her work published on Wattpad here
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