Interment

He swung the shovel viciously. It pierced the parched earth.
His well-worn shaft taut. Her dales a fertile prospect.
He dug with dire expediency. Her hollowed earth prepared.
He slid the stiff in swiftly. His crime, her lust interred.

But trees have eyes, winds have tongues. These pierced the parched earth.
These slid the stiff out swiftly. Across these dales of fertile gossip.
Now digging with raging urgency. The hollowed earth disturbed.
They hid their hides in misery. Their lust in crime interred.
















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In this poem, "interment" has the literal interpretation of burying the dead, but there are two other interpretations which are metaphorical. The sexual interpretation is particularly Philippine (in the vernacular).

My husband helped me refine this poem last night (especially the last stanza where I had much difficulty) and I am quite happy with the result. He noted that "stiff" was an Americanism and not an English word for a dead body. But we both agreed that it was a key word in the poem and cannot be dispensed with.

However, I would like to do better with the stresses in this poem.

The first draft that I made is below.
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Interment

He swung the shovel vicious. It pierced the parched earth.
His calloused shaft taut. Her dales a fertile prospect.
He dug with dire expediency. Her hollowed earth prepared.
He slid the stiff in swiftly. His crime, her lust interred.

But trees have eyes, winds have tongues. These pierced the parched earth.
These slid the stiff out swiftly. These dales a fertile gossip.
He dug with raging urgency. Her hollowed earth disturbed.
They hid their skins in misery. Their lust their crime interred.