She was the looney-toon

of our gated community.

laughed about,

neighbor to neighbor,

part of the necessary initiation

for any new arrivals,

just to warn them off,

keeping her isolated,

a plague,

quarrentined.

So,

when the smell was noticed

by her gardener,

her body carted off,

paid for by some distant next-of-kin,

the house put up for sale

after a deep cleanse,

we waited to see if it sold

and whether the new owner would

be the type

to give us cause

to carry on the local tradition.

But,

there were no takers.

The FOR SALE sign

wet and fading on the lawn.

So,

we shrugged the nagging question off

and barely noticed

the twinge

each time we strolled past

the vacant house

on a warm summers eve.