No Body (Poetry)

They never found her —
not even a trace
There were posters — a likeness
of her face
but no one came forward
with information
so eventually they dropped
the investigation

Missing at first
then presumed to be dead
A natural progression
when all has been said
A vanishing
a mystery —
here today
thereafter ... history

So they bury a box
with no body in it
and who doesn’t doubt
for at least a minute
she’s somewhere else
that much is certain
just an empty gesture
as they drop the dirt in