The Pusher (New Poem)

Crazed with worry

Clothed in a bloodless air

Not one body has been found

In the river

Or the lakes

Moving shadow like

On the land

Nor 2

But 85.

85 bodies pedal soft

Conscripted with cold drew

Over 6 years,

Cloaked in the ship canal

And all over

Manchester’s water works

In deafening silence

Kneeling in deep breath

Crossing canal gates

In the Undercroft

Or past the bars

Near Canal Street

And the Warehouse Project,

Salford Quays

28 cases remain an open verdict

Trembling with stillness

Lying in wait

Chiselled in tragedies

Whether drunk or drugged

Or something more sinister

Whispering shells

Across un-answered questions

85 people in 6 years

Over doubled the rate of deaths

In Birmingham

undiminished

unsolved.

Wishboning towards

a possible truth

none of us want to

possibly face.

(NB. 85 bodies have been found dead

in rivers and canals in Manchester, UK

over the years double the number of

deaths found in Birmingham, UK.

The Police have denied there is a serial

Killer at large. However, the rumour

Persists that a serial killer nicknamed

‘The Pusher’ is responsible)