I'm not explaining this one

The news broke over the heads of the unsuspecting town like a thunderclap from a clear blue sky
it flooded every house and spilled out of every mouth
and the story got bigger each time it was told
but nobody believed it
the alignment of the bodies made a gruesome geometric pattern
a glistening arcane glyph that tickled
the backs of the minds of the men who found them
like a secret hidden away in deep memory
a secret they wish had been kept
bound up in the tattered strips of their own torn clothing
a warning
or an invitation
a decorative feast for birds and worms
unappreciated centerpiece on a rough stone table
set for 12 unlucky mortals
still almost fresh
in the boiling sun
stiff limbs carefully arranged to spell a word
I couldnt read it
when we came back with help they were all gone
we searched the rocks for any trace, bone, scrap or stain
but there was nothing
and I couldnt explain it
to my wife
I tried she
turns her face away
and has long teary conversations in whispers
on the phone with her sister
living over in the next town
after the bottle is 2 thirds empty
and she thinks im as deaf as she tries to be
she looks hard at the door
when she thinks Im not looking
I keep the damn thing locked for a reason
just like a woman
she'd run for her life
but the dead hold her right where she is