The Alligator Ring

Leaves falling all around her

As she stood beneath the tree.

She seemed so lost and lonely,

And I was the only one to see.

I came each day to the same spot

And always she was there.

She seemed to not know I was around

Or maybe she just didn't care.

I watched her with curiosity.

I watched for my own reasons.

She was like a budding flower

Trapped in the wrong time and season.

Her eyes were always looking down

Toward the ground where she was mired

And she never moved or even blinked.

It was like she never got tired.

Upon her finger, shining bright

There was a golden band,

An alligator with ruby eyes

That decorated her lovely hand.

One day I went to talk to her.

I walked to where she stood

And in a second's time, she vanished.

Gone forever from the wood.

I returned each day as always

But never was she found,

It was like she simply vanished,

Into the cold hard ground.

Later in the winter,

I passed by that patch again

And to my surprise,

With wondering eyes,

I watched them digging in.

Exhuming up a body,

There buried since the spring

Of a lovely woman with golden hair,

And an alligator ring.

ã Stormi