Tattoo

Tattoo

One day a cop at a murder scene
Uncovered a tattoo from skin so clean
One that's plain, with no other markings
Bearing a story true

The beautiful woman had died
Supposedly from a sharp, steel knife
Bleeding to death with blood stains on the floor
No one heard a scream, the puddles mixing with the rain

Her ice-cold, milk-white skin bruised and battered
Her faded jeans and hooded top tattered
Her dark hair and eyes were drawn by death
Darker than permanent marker

Those eyes were open silently from witnessing a twisted dream
Her mouth crying out in a frightened scream
But no one heard her, for she didn't matter

The tattoo was uncovered on her upper back
It ran so long that it reached her hips
It whispered reminisced words from silent lips

"One day I'll lie here, dying
In the same place I was crying
As a child, long ago

Mother dear, where have you gone?
Father, where are you going?
And I was left alone in the snow

I had no brothers, no sisters, no father, no mother
They all let me go
I played with a little boy who did not let me stay alone

We grew up together under the same roof
Went to the same school, were best friends
And as our lives stretched longer, I knew mine would end

One day we were running across the street
And fell asleep under a willow tree
When I woke up, he had faded
Into a huddled figure, dead on the street

Each day I serve the same fate
Dead just as him
Maybe alive in some way
But without him I die inside of me"

A beautiful picture was tattooed on her shoulder
Of a woman and man
Who aged as they turned older
And faded into the river sand

The policeman wiped his eyes
And pulled off his hat
Held it in front of him
And paid his respects for his beloved

For on the tattoo was him
And the woman was her
There they were, at the lake
By a willow tree

He turned around and faded into the sand
And the lovers walked, hand in hand