Suspicious Death

by Melanie Hobbs

​grey houses huddle together in winding loops
scant bottlebrush trees wave feebly in the light breeze
providing no relief from the glare of the February sun 
on the too-white pavement. 
 
inside the place a dusty Christmas tree looms over the body. 
male. seventies. full head of hair. 
his blue checked shirt unbuttoned, no doubt by the ambos
now consoling his wife,
exposing a blood-spattered hairy chest and throat. 
no wound though. 
 
most likely some sort of aneurysm. 
poison also a possibility. 

Melanie Hobbs is a writer of Malaysian-Indian descent. She lives in Perth, Western Australia, with her husband, two-year-old daughter and dog, along with another baby on the way. Melanie worked as a high school English teacher for ten years and is currently a full-time parent.