Widows of Gossip

words
cut from tongue
to tongue
daily news
of the latest scandals
idle chatter
for bored maidens
housewives
looking for some torrid details
to satisfying
their dying hearts

did you hear
Lord Louie
ran off
with that Ella, girl

i heard
the preacher's girl
got one
on the way

rumors
to titillate
the starving souls
beauty parlor fairy tales
stretched from a ounce
of truth
covering
the masses

headlines created
through whispers
sold over the fish
and dresses
slander
killing the coveted
mentioned
mannequin of accusations
rebuttal
to deaf ears
truth
laying in the gutter
gleaming to be heard

the accused
appears
shunned by the widows
of gossip speech
put on display
on trial
through the stares
never knowing
the inferno of lies
about to fall
upon her

whore
slut
bastard child

letters
emblazoned on her blouse
led to the bottle
'n gun
bullets
take away the misunderstanding
her life ended
through the pins
'n needles
daggers
stones
cast upon her
the lies
the soil
she was buried in
branded
just another
dead whore.