Crime happens in all seasons

Crime happens in all seasons, but in the winter, if it’s cold enough, I might not smell it right away. The body on the back porch. Has it been hours or minutes? Multiple stab and slash wounds. Cause is clear enough, but it’s my job to wipe off the patio brick stains. However, cleaning up a crime scene won’t shield the neighbors from the rumors spread by yellow tape.

I don’t think people realize they can’t pour hydrogen peroxide on their feelings, or bleach away loneliness; grief doesn’t get absorbed with a bucket and mop. Most times, a person needs a professional like me to kill all the germs, but I can’t take away the hurt feelings, the mistrust. What people don’t understand is that the absence of germs can be just as harmful. To be honest, snow would be the easy way out.

d’Verse Poets Pub | Prosery

144 words to include ‘Snow would be the easy
way out’ from November for Beginners by Rita Dove

Cover Art: Murder (1869-70) by Paul Cézanne (1839-1906).

13 responses to “Crime happens in all seasons”

pandamoniumcat

A great perspective for the prompt. You cannot clean away everything.

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1. K.F. Hartless
  
  Thank you. Yes, I guess I had fun imagining what it must be like to clean up after such crimes.
  
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Ordinary Person

Very well written. I guess a crime scene always remains a tragedy. Clean everything and it will still haunt minds.

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K.F. Hartless

Yes, I have to agree. There’s a sort of film left behind that doesn’t scrub out no matter how pristine it may look. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment on my prosery.

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Björn Rudberg (brudberg)

what a profession it must be to be the one having to clean the crime scene… and yes so many emotions left even in the absence of blood.

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kim881

There was a television series in the UK, a comedy called The Cleaber, about a man who cleans up scenes of crime, and your Prosery reminded me of it. I agree that ‘cleaning up a crime scene won’t shield the neighbors from the rumors spread by yellow tape’ and that ‘grief doesn’t get absorbed with a bucket and mop’.

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merrildsmith

I really liked “they can’t pour hydrogen peroxide on their feelings, or bleach away loneliness,” and the tone of the narrator. It could almost be the start of a novel.

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dorahak

An original take, with the prose and the tone striking just that professional pragmatism of an expert in crime scenes. Well done, K.F.

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sanaarizvi

I absolutely love this! Such a powerful response to the prompt, K! ❤️❤️

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Nicole Smith

Jesus.

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Bill

Yep. Some one always must clean up the mess. Well done.

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msjadeli

Crime scene cleanup is a job probably nobody dreams of doing when they grow up.

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johnlmalone

I love the way you tackled this, K; some great images: you ‘can’t bleach away loneliness’ stays with me; an assured piece: it has the confident swing of writing done in one take ; was it?

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