30 Day Picture Prompt Challenge

Retribution

Snow filled her footprints,
no trail left behind.
Mattered not, for no one would care
enough to follow.
Wearing only her black widow's weeds,
she walked away from all that had transpired.
She brought nothing with her
although she'd left nothing behind.
There was nothing there for her now;
no family, no loving man, nay
not even a home for it was
lost to her even as much as he was
as they dragged him away.
He had done nothing
but no one listened.
They wouldn't listen to her at any rate.

No matter he was innocent
of any crime except
being in the wrong place
at the wrong time
and hearing words
that should never have been said.
He had no power, no recourse
against those in charge.
Lord Abernathy, actually his chosen few,
held everything
in their bloodstained hands:
villager's lives counted for nothing
beyond which they could plant or gather
to feed the table of the mighty.

She never looked back. Only
ahead and the next village
where she would try, again,
to fit in. Perhaps another man
would care for her, but she was used
to being alone. As the snow, once more
began to fall, as flakes layered upon her cloak,
she smiled
a small, cold smile.
She couldn't overwhelm their strength
nor stop the hangman's rope
but she carried with her
a secret that would destroy them.



244 words