the spare key

there was a spare
key
on a nail
in the lightless
damp
of the shed.
but how were they to know
that?
how could
they possibly know
anything
other than
the doors were locked.
she didn't
show up at work
and no one would
the answer the phones.

was it a surprise
after entering through
the broken
glass
to find her in her bed,
reaching sky
ward
in death to some unseen
figure.
an angel
perhaps, or someone who
arrived
before her. hands stretched

out in

agreement

that this life was over.

there was a spare key
in the shed.
i told them that, afterwards
when
the body left under
a  white sheet
in the throes of winter,

the tree adorned in the corner,
christmas to come
in barely a week.