"When they finally found her"

NB: At face value this composition would appear to allude to the April Jones tragedy, but this was not intentional at the outset.

When they finally found her small body,
discarded by the riverbank like an old doll,
it was a wretched dream that would linger.
She was broken and battered;
a once inviolate orchid brimming with life,
now livid, drowned by rough, brutal hands.
Death came too soon and too heinously
that even the Reaper was loathe to take her.
There were cries and screams and hatred
that filled the nearby village,
which eventually turned to nameless pain and grief.
A mother was left numb, a father grew cold,
an older brother found solace in aimless anger—
the funeral continued after death.
Little Alice went missing for three weeks,
but when they finally found her small body
there no longer was a smile or energy or youth.
Although she was found, she is forever taken.

Ex Tempore XLVII
M.M. — 02-Jun-2013