Coverage

The ransom note arrives, slightly worn in transit.

Opened, her face appears, half obscured,
     (though everyone in the room knows who she is)
sitting there, within words, a statement
read and forgotten many times in this actual newspaper
proudly dated Everyday.

Determination holds in the fold of her arms.
Unseen eyes and pursed lips are the headlines
that give away her location – an open secret for so long
that nothing around her needs a name.

She has been missing forever –
less, though, than the life of the inky print
that has begun leeching its future onto the reader’s fingers –
leaving words that can no longer be ignored:

We have you where we want you.
Send us her future in marked bills.
There is no ‘or else’
so call the authorities and do not come alone –

Bring everyone!