Hello Poetry
Submit your work and get some sparkles! Create free account
"morgue" poems
Perfection is terrible, it cannot have children. Cold as snow breath, it tamps the womb Where the yew trees blow like hydras, The tree of life and the tree of life Unloosing their moons, month after month, to no purpose. The blood flood is the flood of love, The absolute sacrifice. It means: no more idols but me, Me and you. So, in their sulfur loveliness, in their smiles These mannequins lean tonight In Munich, morgue between Paris and Rome, Naked and bald in their furs, Orange lollies on silver sticks, Intolerable, without mind. The snow drops its pieces of darkness, Nobody's about. In the hotels Hands will be opening doors and setting Down shoes for a polish of carbon Into which broad toes will go tomorrow. O the domesticity of these windows, The baby lace, the green-leaved confectionery, The thick Germans slumbering in their bottomless Stolz. And the black phones on hooks Glittering Glittering and digesting Voicelessness. The snow has no voice. 28 January 1963
0
20.6k
The Munich Mannequins
A sunflower grows "tall and simple". And so does a cancer small and simple. Holes grow larger around me. A field of sunflowers and headstones. The power of recovery and discovery; the kick of a pen during unconscious behavior. Chatty beats taking control of the morgue. Not letting the rivers in-- only the shivers. Chatty beats taking the liver, putting it in a living corpse. Chatty beats opening the door in the clouds. That's but a bedtime story that's read to the youth and told as the truth. Hypnotize so I can't criticize, stick my face in the water and show me the baby otters I loved from my childhood bedtime stories. The glories of floating on my back into a brand new habitat filled with sunflowers "tall and simple" and holes growing larger to keep me warm and breathing under the water.
0
Feb 10, 2013
Feb 10, 2013 at 12:03 AM UTC
Sea Otter
Dear Mentor Hyde: Upon the morgue room table he looked like he had some Frankenstein fame Like a two sided ten thousand piece puzzle, we started with his fragile frame Racing to find the four corners I found three shaped, kinda like the same Good, now he knows, when were done today we will win this insane game On a first name basis I want to know them all, and by it their first name Witnessing weeping children gets me every time I get all sensitive like a dame It makes me happy to know I’m tucking you in and you’re not going to the flame Sewing him back together he couldn’t move for he had a case of being lame When he comes back to life he will forever be our friend and also be very tame From far off distance places they all will come and from far they all came Looking to see how we done, I’ll admit it for I have no shame If anything goes wrong, look to me and I will take the total blame. Sincerely, Dr. Jackal (SirCARSr 2-3-13)
0
Feb 3, 2013
Feb 3, 2013 at 5:11 PM UTC
Dr. Jackal and Mentor Hyde
Amadou awakened with a start, it was Omar one of the guardians(security guards) of Yaldagou (the largest Hospital in the capital of Burkina Faso) knocking on the window of his taxi, Amadou had just settled down for the night after a long day in the heat and fumes that was Ouagadougou it was just after midnight on Sunday, he struggled to wake up rubbing the sleep from his eyes as Omar explained in Mori(local language), that there were two white people in need of his special service. After a quick explanation that someone had died in a private clinic nearby and the body needed to be transported to the morgue at Yaldagou,  he snapped out of his sleepiness and thought for a moment how much he could charge the rich white people, it was two days after Eid and as a strict Muslim he had been celebrating the holidays and now he had been offered an opportunity to supplement his taxi income, someone had to do it and it was an unsavory job and anyway on the few occasions he had done it, it had been lucrative, it might as well be him! Amadou thought to himself, if you had the misfortune to die in the day time there was a private service but in the night dignity went out the window and it was up to people like Amadou and a select bunch of taxi drivers with seats that could be configured to accommodate the corpses of the recently deceased to perform this service, so taxi 87 driven by Amadou would take this lady who had died from kidney and other ***** failures, after struggling for some days she eventually lost her battle and slipped into unconsciousness and finally died. Amadou finally settled on 10000 CFA(local currency) a fair price, after all the so-called professionals would charge 30000 CFA three times more and it was around Eid "Allah Akbar".   A quick "Thank you" to Omar for helping them and the two white people left with him for the short journey to the clinic, after the usual discussions the body was released and  transported to the morgue to join the other recently deceased waiting for burial in the morning, Amadou, rearranged the seating in his taxi after parking up in his favourite place under the trees of Yaldago it was just after one thirty, a good ninety mins work he thought to himself, yawned, and settled down to sleep a few more hours before dawn prayers. This was Africa and "someone had to do it" was his last thought.
0
Nov 26, 2012
Nov 26, 2012 at 7:26 PM UTC
An unsavoury job - "someone had to do it"
Amadou awakened with a start, it was Omar one of the guardians(security guards) of Yaldagou (the largest Hospital in the capital of Burkina Faso) knocking on the window of his taxi, Amadou had just settled down for the night after a long day in the heat and fumes that was Ouagadougou it was just after midnight on Sunday, he struggled to wake up rubbing the sleep from his eyes as Omar explained in Mori(local language), that there were two white people in need of his special service. After a quick explanation that someone had died in a private clinic nearby and the body needed to be transported to the morgue at Yaldagou,  he snapped out of his sleepiness and thought for a moment how much he could charge the rich white people, it was two days after Eid and as a strict Muslim he had been celebrating the holidays and now he had been offered an opportunity to supplement his taxi income, someone had to do it and it was an unsavory job and anyway on the few occasions he had done it, it had been lucrative, it might as well be him! Amadou thought to himself, if you had the misfortune to die in the day time there was a private service but in the night dignity went out the window and it was up to people like Amadou and a select bunch of taxi drivers with seats that could be configured to accommodate the corpses of the recently deceased to perform this service, so taxi 87 driven by Amadou would take this lady who had died from kidney and other ***** failures, after struggling for some days she eventually lost her battle and slipped into unconsciousness and finally died. Amadou finally settled on 10000 CFA(local currency) a fair price, after all the so-called professionals would charge 30000 CFA three times more and it was around Eid "Allah Akbar".   A quick "Thank you" to Omar for helping them and the two white people left with him for the short journey to the clinic, after the usual discussions the body was released and  transported to the morgue to join the other recently deceased waiting for burial in the morning, Amadou, rearranged the seating in his taxi after parking up in his favourite place under the trees of Yaldago it was just after one thirty, a good ninety mins work he thought to himself, yawned, and settled down to sleep a few more hours before dawn prayers. This was Africa and "someone had to do it" was his last thought.
Continue reading...
7
in the morgue name tag tied to big toe the autopsy naked to the bone you may let out a last moan but that will be death, making itself heard
0
Sep 2, 2025
Sep 2, 2025 at 9:44 AM UTC
rattle
Deeming that I were better dead, "How shall I **** myself?" I said. Thus mooning by the river Seine I sought extinction without pain, When on a bridge I saw a flash Of lingerie and heard a splash . . . So as I am a swimmer stout I plunged and pulled the poor wretch out. The female that I saved? Ah yes, To yield the Morgue of one corpse the less, Apart from all heroic action, Gave me a moral satisfaction. was she an old and withered hag, Too tired of life to long to lag? Ah no, she was so young and fair I fell in love with her right there. And when she took me to her attic Her gratitude was most emphatic. A sweet and simple girl she proved, Distraught because the man she loved In battle his life-blood had shed . . . So I, too, told her of my dead, The girl who in a garret grey Had coughed and coughed her life away. Thus as we sought our griefs to smother, With kisses we consoled each other . . . And there's the ending of my story; It wasn't grim, it wasn't gory. For comforted were hearts forlorn, And from black sorrow joy was born: So may our dead dears be forgiving, And bless the rapture of the living.
0
3.4k
A Song Of Suicide
when i first met you i was shy and still wore pink and had an uncanny obsession with sweaters and you had smiled at me so warmly that i couldn't help but have smiled back because you looked so happy // when i first realized i was in love with you it was a warm july sun and a humid air and you were laughing as i rambled on about a book that i can't remember the title of but god, i had never thought that people could look beautiful under the horizon because the sky was too distracting but on that particular day, i'm sure the horizon was jealous of how light your hazel eyes looked and how deep your dimples were i laid awake that night, thinking about your smile and how happy it made me, and how terribly bittersweet this was going to be // when i look at you know, i do not see the sun-kissed boy with laughter in his eyes and a permanent smile on his cheeks, i see a shadow of the boy i used to love and sometimes i wonder if i should care at all that you're sad, because you never seem to care when i am, though i suppose that is what love is itself, loving somebody so unconditionally that even when they laugh and mock you, you would still cry with them the very next day // although then again, i'm sure you don't know what love is
0
Apr 26, 2015
Apr 26, 2015 at 10:23 AM UTC
hello there, the angel from my nightmare, the shadow in the background of the morgue
Cassie and Lia Or Ana and Mia? I don't know who we are anymore Best friends or competitors? Both fighting for a place at the morgue As the first snow falls, Our blood intermingles In a pact to be the skinniest of them all And no one else can see That we're stuck in a blizzard Doing anything for beauty Icy veins and frozen hearts Numbers shrinking on the scale Metallic blades leaving scars Pretty pills and bathroom stalls, Diet coke and working out, This is all that we are We used to be innocent Cassie and Lia, But when I look in the mirror I only see Ana and Mia
0
Mar 12, 2014
Mar 12, 2014 at 10:43 AM UTC
Wintergirls
I never drove by that was the ***** way,              half time trying to hit a wet spot blind. or killing the time of those who were never meant to fall... Got honor between the lines, I'll stop the car,               open the door, walk out suited not you average gangster, look like the others and no one running till I pulls out your friend it anit here for a meet and greet. More like say hello to, goodbye...    you bleeding on the floor, I'm a good shot... One to the chest, you fell now one to the head,    you aint paid you bills now your blood                                            stained in the wind. Casually walking back to the car signing          autographs of his followers.   This meet and greets been productive,    Family signing you off on the morgue... I aint going to lie the only necktie I be            tightening is yours... Tied to a chair, if I need information,    asking as politely with a ball hammer                                    and some pliers... I had a few mouths shout off, now they walk the street silently,   never **** disrespect. Show what silence sounds like, respect is fear          and I'm the scarecrow in the field. And you crows,     you worm eaters ain't seen nothing yet..
0
Oct 10, 2020
Oct 10, 2020 at 6:49 PM UTC
Not Your Average
my silence is burrowed in these bones, my bones let me go alone into the catacombs let me breathe the heart of this impenetrable darkness I swear to god I never meant to hurt you outside, on your doorstep I am worn out sick and tired, and so on these cave walls hover on my ribs I will never make you understand how the music of this death march haunts me in my empty chest I am filled with the waning moon the song of our sorrow overflows me my bones, my bones, weaved within the stone floors our bones, your bones stacked against the walls let me go alone into this hollowed darkness this hallowed ground in the dead of night this void shudders in my bones, my bones I swear I’m dying I swear to god the cavern of this morgue is my only home let me go gentle into this good night this holy unborn chaos under cover of darkness our world is small and scarred someday I swear I will be still my shaking hands will settle in these bones, these bones, let me die among the dead under cover of darkness this new world washes over me the water of my veins will flood this empty sky there are thrones in the corners of this room and we turn away (the underworld is not in flames it is drowned in this cold breathing earth) there are thrones in the corners of this room, and they are empty let me go alone into this heart of darkness, when I fall upon this floor my soul will dance on torch lit walls my heart runs cold across this sacred stone let the pure unsettled darkness strike in me that kind of hollow I am trying to build a home here, these bones, my bones the music of our heavy mouths drifts upward to the sky I am a tragedy, for the last time we will lose our senses underground and we will thank god as my eyes fall wide on these hollow walls I am more at home than I have ever been let this open earth bite me to my core as my chest is bared before this empty sky I will not rage against the dying of the light I am worn out sick and tired the chorus of our footsteps echoes on my bones, our bones, my bones melted in this torch light we are dying sacred
0
Nov 9, 2014
Nov 9, 2014 at 12:22 PM UTC
to heaven; to god's children in the caves
my silence is burrowed in these bones, my bones let me go alone into the catacombs let me breathe the heart of this impenetrable darkness I swear to god I never meant to hurt you outside, on your doorstep I am worn out sick and tired, and so on these cave walls hover on my ribs I will never make you understand how the music of this death march haunts me in my empty chest I am filled with the waning moon the song of our sorrow overflows me my bones, my bones, weaved within the stone floors our bones, your bones stacked against the walls let me go alone into this hollowed darkness this hallowed ground in the dead of night this void shudders in my bones, my bones I swear I’m dying I swear to god the cavern of this morgue is my only home let me go gentle into this good night this holy unborn chaos under cover of darkness our world is small and scarred someday I swear I will be still my shaking hands will settle in these bones, these bones, let me die among the dead under cover of darkness this new world washes over me the water of my veins will flood this empty sky there are thrones in the corners of this room and we turn away (the underworld is not in flames it is drowned in this cold breathing earth) there are thrones in the corners of this room, and they are empty let me go alone into this heart of darkness, when I fall upon this floor my soul will dance on torch lit walls my heart runs cold across this sacred stone let the pure unsettled darkness strike in me that kind of hollow I am trying to build a home here, these bones, my bones the music of our heavy mouths drifts upward to the sky I am a tragedy, for the last time we will lose our senses underground and we will thank god as my eyes fall wide on these hollow walls I am more at home than I have ever been let this open earth bite me to my core as my chest is bared before this empty sky I will not rage against the dying of the light I am worn out sick and tired the chorus of our footsteps echoes on my bones, our bones, my bones melted in this torch light we are dying sacred
Continue reading...
40
I don't cry a lot, or at all for that matter. I've fooled myself into thinking strength, isn't comforted by weakness. Truth is, weakness is the builder of strength. I find that so contradictory, because what breaks me, tears me up and what strengthens me, builds my character up. No one decides, which is which. We have feminists arguing on behalf of the woman, dictating and reasoning for emotional expressions, but society judges being make and falling. Being a man, is a matter of endurance through hardships, breaking sweats, but never breaking a tear, because water works shouldn't work on male species, because feeling, isn't in our nature, says society. So, we aimlessly tear through the jungle, hunting for what we don't know, looking for a next meal, never being content, because, contentment is not part of our nature, says society. With private parts being made public, we move through the next with being hesitant, by the time she realizes, she's already been ****** Break hearts, play hearts and acting like we have hearts. That's society's perception of the male species. Society never talks about, the clean up crew. Society, never speaks about me. Society never speaks about my ****** hands with cuts of your broken heart, and with missing body parts try to bring aid to your heart. Society never speaks about trying to make you understand how I'm different, and with countless bouquets, it's never okay to let me in because you let him in, and from the ******* he left like you were nothing, and now that you have something, you won't let me in. He penetrated your skin, and I'm not fascinated by it, I was see your soul unmasked to mine, so I explore your soul before your body, and these steps I take on hot coal, because he didn't care so much so that the cuts burn. Your soul is almost like a morgue, I swear it's like your heart has been cremated, with an invite to your funeral, I hope you spread your ashes on my heart, so once again you can feel something whole, again.
0
Mar 9, 2017
Mar 9, 2017 at 12:50 PM UTC
Picking Up Broken Pieces
I don't cry a lot, or at all for that matter. I've fooled myself into thinking strength, isn't comforted by weakness. Truth is, weakness is the builder of strength. I find that so contradictory, because what breaks me, tears me up and what strengthens me, builds my character up. No one decides, which is which. We have feminists arguing on behalf of the woman, dictating and reasoning for emotional expressions, but society judges being make and falling. Being a man, is a matter of endurance through hardships, breaking sweats, but never breaking a tear, because water works shouldn't work on male species, because feeling, isn't in our nature, says society. So, we aimlessly tear through the jungle, hunting for what we don't know, looking for a next meal, never being content, because, contentment is not part of our nature, says society. With private parts being made public, we move through the next with being hesitant, by the time she realizes, she's already been ****** Break hearts, play hearts and acting like we have hearts. That's society's perception of the male species. Society never talks about, the clean up crew. Society, never speaks about me. Society never speaks about my ****** hands with cuts of your broken heart, and with missing body parts try to bring aid to your heart. Society never speaks about trying to make you understand how I'm different, and with countless bouquets, it's never okay to let me in because you let him in, and from the ******* he left like you were nothing, and now that you have something, you won't let me in. He penetrated your skin, and I'm not fascinated by it, I was see your soul unmasked to mine, so I explore your soul before your body, and these steps I take on hot coal, because he didn't care so much so that the cuts burn. Your soul is almost like a morgue, I swear it's like your heart has been cremated, with an invite to your funeral, I hope you spread your ashes on my heart, so once again you can feel something whole, again.
Continue reading...
16
There is a line between pain and pleasure. But when that line blurs- When the pleasure overthrows your inhibitions and the pain numbs your body, When pain becomes pleasure and pleasure becomes pain, how do you know when to stop. I glorify it. I crave the taste of the sickness. of the disease rippling across my skin, boiling in my veins and flowing through my blood. Is it Healthy? I love you, I love it, but is it healthy To walk the streets at night in constant fear not only of what lurks in the shadows but of you too. Anorexic bodies falling all around us. Mine included. Skinnier by the day, yellow nails chipping and peeling, grinding of the teeth to procure a never ending headache. Pale skin; cold to the touch from lack of circulation. Weak in your arms an intoxicated mind and a heart struck through with daggers. Blasting screams and beats to block out the world and create a throbbing in our heads. Your freak show; My guilty little pleasure. So sick So satanic So tenebrific So twisted so disturbed so disgusting so beautiful so broken. cradled by poison, hold me in your arms, a monster in the shadows with thanatognomonic eyes. With my thanatophobia You manage to keep me alive. You do it to feel the pain, as a confirmation that you're still alive, But I do it to feel nothing, to feel all this pain all these repressed emotions disappear. Overall we do it to stay alive, and shred away our pitiful sorrows one by one, piece by piece. For inch by inch we come closer to meeting the same fate of our cold, useless, easily forgotten bodies lying on a metal slab. Soon to be greeted by the maltreated Earth.
0
Sep 29, 2013
Sep 29, 2013 at 2:32 AM UTC
Morgue
There is a line between pain and pleasure. But when that line blurs- When the pleasure overthrows your inhibitions and the pain numbs your body, When pain becomes pleasure and pleasure becomes pain, how do you know when to stop. I glorify it. I crave the taste of the sickness. of the disease rippling across my skin, boiling in my veins and flowing through my blood. Is it Healthy? I love you, I love it, but is it healthy To walk the streets at night in constant fear not only of what lurks in the shadows but of you too. Anorexic bodies falling all around us. Mine included. Skinnier by the day, yellow nails chipping and peeling, grinding of the teeth to procure a never ending headache. Pale skin; cold to the touch from lack of circulation. Weak in your arms an intoxicated mind and a heart struck through with daggers. Blasting screams and beats to block out the world and create a throbbing in our heads. Your freak show; My guilty little pleasure. So sick So satanic So tenebrific So twisted so disturbed so disgusting so beautiful so broken. cradled by poison, hold me in your arms, a monster in the shadows with thanatognomonic eyes. With my thanatophobia You manage to keep me alive. You do it to feel the pain, as a confirmation that you're still alive, But I do it to feel nothing, to feel all this pain all these repressed emotions disappear. Overall we do it to stay alive, and shred away our pitiful sorrows one by one, piece by piece. For inch by inch we come closer to meeting the same fate of our cold, useless, easily forgotten bodies lying on a metal slab. Soon to be greeted by the maltreated Earth.
Continue reading...
79
If I were to say; the devil & god both rage within, I would render myself dishonest. For despite blind faith you have never heard me surrender, to the devil or god. The agnostic in me did surrender, to a name still unknown. An internal war battles of wills I so fought pleading & praying; *save me from what I have so become.* A war rages within thirsty blood red, slaughter a house for the dead. I fall at your feet, lick the blood splashed & spilled; a slaughterhouse will never be a clean resting place. I kneel; genuflect at the shrine of gods & monsters. I whisper; *What will be? What will become of me?* Laughing, spitting, in the face of anguished despair. A war rages within. Nor devil nor god may see, I am yours for slaughter, surrendered for you in this wasteland my mind created when you were first gone. © Sia Jane "I’ll be your slaughterhouse, your killing floor, your morgue and final resting, walking around with this           bullet inside me." Wishbone by Richard Siken
0
Jan 13, 2015
Jan 13, 2015 at 10:47 PM UTC
Slaughterhouse
"I'll be your slaughterhouse, your killing floor, your morgue and final resting..." Richard Siken You set my soul on fire pouring gasoline over every inch of the skin I inhabit daily You set my soul on fire knowing how much it would burn, leaving deep everlasting scars You set my soul on fire excruciatingly ripping a person I love so knowing the pain you'd cause You set my soul on fire your face ablaze with an unspoken contentment at claiming what you believe is yours I sit here and mourn my heart misshaped from the norm I sit here and weep at how trampled I was by your feet I sit here with anger knowing where to point the finger twist it round, with your well rehearsed stirs that damage, disintegrate and curse © Sia Jane
0
Jan 14, 2014
Jan 14, 2014 at 1:55 PM UTC
Soul on Fire
a liar once told me that i write good poetry i laughed and continued drinking, the sudden rush of despair, the wicked beast, the dry pages the man had no credentials but he persisted, declaring me an inspiration like seeing a strand of hair attract a magnet or amber jewels lolling in a dimly lit case imagination is a felony, i wagered as i poured another a combustion i know like the back of my hands i told him i dreamt of a morgue where everyone i ever loved sat upright as sunflowers, declaring their love for the sun and of a newspaper rife with disease and the passion of a janitor there is a raccoon near a river somewhere cleaning an apple with a heart as big as an artist in drunken euphoria taking better care of it than me when i sit down at a typewriter it's wearing a cape just like edgar allen poe and having better conversation with an oak tree than i've ever had at a party about the sunday crossword puzzle he completed   yesterday i drank myself into a masquerade ball arriving in a limousine being driven by a bearded mickey mantle i was the guest of honor, sword fighting on table tops and lecturing the guests about shakespeare through a garbage disposal while a horse played backgammon with my father's brother and there was a girl there behind the facade of an owl who danced like the wind and everlasting light and no one could stop her or look her in the eye i am the only connection between my mind and the paper merely a vessel, a john boat clearly breaching it's depth either drowning like a fish in a sand dune or being bounced like a baby on the knee of god slavery, i call it, and hand him a glass of warm bourbon as the splashing of my journal pages slap my crushed trachea the typewriter is padlocked and painted over with cement the metamorphosis trapped inside a bullet, boiling with sheer fury
0
Jan 18, 2014
Jan 18, 2014 at 11:23 PM UTC
imagination is a felony
a liar once told me that i write good poetry i laughed and continued drinking, the sudden rush of despair, the wicked beast, the dry pages the man had no credentials but he persisted, declaring me an inspiration like seeing a strand of hair attract a magnet or amber jewels lolling in a dimly lit case imagination is a felony, i wagered as i poured another a combustion i know like the back of my hands i told him i dreamt of a morgue where everyone i ever loved sat upright as sunflowers, declaring their love for the sun and of a newspaper rife with disease and the passion of a janitor there is a raccoon near a river somewhere cleaning an apple with a heart as big as an artist in drunken euphoria taking better care of it than me when i sit down at a typewriter it's wearing a cape just like edgar allen poe and having better conversation with an oak tree than i've ever had at a party about the sunday crossword puzzle he completed   yesterday i drank myself into a masquerade ball arriving in a limousine being driven by a bearded mickey mantle i was the guest of honor, sword fighting on table tops and lecturing the guests about shakespeare through a garbage disposal while a horse played backgammon with my father's brother and there was a girl there behind the facade of an owl who danced like the wind and everlasting light and no one could stop her or look her in the eye i am the only connection between my mind and the paper merely a vessel, a john boat clearly breaching it's depth either drowning like a fish in a sand dune or being bounced like a baby on the knee of god slavery, i call it, and hand him a glass of warm bourbon as the splashing of my journal pages slap my crushed trachea the typewriter is padlocked and painted over with cement the metamorphosis trapped inside a bullet, boiling with sheer fury
Continue reading...
34
He hates daylight with sense of a mole, He has curtains all over his chambers, to preserve His heart nocturnal, where he derives joy As he does glory from his night shift As a mortician at the city morgue, Where I was deadly drunk one night, And fallaciously declared dead by a nurse And got dumped into this domain of the AG Fellow drunkards who became sober to cry For help out of the morgue, the AG clubbed Them lethally to final death, forget of drunkardness Another sick person un-convulsed back to life He thrashed his skull with a menacing club, Only two strong hits sent the misfortunate man Back a really rigor mortis, finally dead, I chose not to breathes loudly till dawn When the dayshift mortician came on duty I pleaded for his favour and sympathy, He culled me out of death, I went home Running swearing to myself never to drink again!
0
Jun 20, 2014
Jun 20, 2014 at 7:44 AM UTC
OUR ATTORNEY GENERAL IS A NIGHT SHIFT MORTICIAN
I’m thinking about the doctor's hands shaking as she                                                struggles to intubate a cat.   I’m thinking about the technician's hands squeezing the cat’s rib cage, pulsing life with a delicate force; she is much more gentle than                                                       practitioners are with humans— hard and quick down with the palms; the ribs snapping,                                                                      the sternum sore.   Some time ago an 80-year-old woman on my unit was opened up bedside for a cardiac procedure during a code.   After a week in ICU, she came back to us on the unit, was up and walking and talking, and was discharged home within another week. Meanwhile, the 60-year-old man was dead in the morgue        after a 45-minute code failed to resuscitate him.   The flip of the coin.  The thin line.  The blessing or the curse.   The absolute darkness of a body bag.  The cold chill of absolute zero.   The fresco painted on the catacomb walls could either depict the light of the sun or the multicolored lights that the brain shoots off minutes before death.                                                                          The eleventh hour,                                                                   isn’t that what it’s called?   We don’t want to talk about body care, death care.   We have to, but it won’t register.                                                               After a loss, after a trauma,                                                                    we are on autopilot.   I think of my mother,                                         six feet beneath frozen soil in                                       a pink padded casket and think:                                                                                              I don’t want that. I think of the prearranged plots my grandparents picked out next to her in an above ground crypt and think:                                                                                              I don’t want that. Bacteria still causes decay after the embalming process.   Putrefied flesh.  Bones visible.  Muscles eaten.  Tissues disintegrated.   We don’t talk about it.   We try to think the opposite.  The positive vs the negative.   (But that’s not always possible or healthy.) I’m thinking about hands inserting IVs, hands taking blood pressures, hands documenting the code notes on a clipboard in the back of the room.   I couldn’t do these things.                                                  My hands tend to break what they touch.   The glass bowl in the pet store.                                  The clay project in art class.                                                               The succulents, the basil, the orchid. I’m good at things I don’t have to think about: good at the autopilot, good at the autonomic,                                                                                     good at trauma.
0
Nov 19, 2020
Nov 19, 2020 at 2:47 AM UTC
It’s Not Fight, It’s Not Flight, It’s Freeze
I’m thinking about the doctor's hands shaking as she                                                struggles to intubate a cat.   I’m thinking about the technician's hands squeezing the cat’s rib cage, pulsing life with a delicate force; she is much more gentle than                                                       practitioners are with humans— hard and quick down with the palms; the ribs snapping,                                                                      the sternum sore.   Some time ago an 80-year-old woman on my unit was opened up bedside for a cardiac procedure during a code.   After a week in ICU, she came back to us on the unit, was up and walking and talking, and was discharged home within another week. Meanwhile, the 60-year-old man was dead in the morgue        after a 45-minute code failed to resuscitate him.   The flip of the coin.  The thin line.  The blessing or the curse.   The absolute darkness of a body bag.  The cold chill of absolute zero.   The fresco painted on the catacomb walls could either depict the light of the sun or the multicolored lights that the brain shoots off minutes before death.                                                                          The eleventh hour,                                                                   isn’t that what it’s called?   We don’t want to talk about body care, death care.   We have to, but it won’t register.                                                               After a loss, after a trauma,                                                                    we are on autopilot.   I think of my mother,                                         six feet beneath frozen soil in                                       a pink padded casket and think:                                                                                              I don’t want that. I think of the prearranged plots my grandparents picked out next to her in an above ground crypt and think:                                                                                              I don’t want that. Bacteria still causes decay after the embalming process.   Putrefied flesh.  Bones visible.  Muscles eaten.  Tissues disintegrated.   We don’t talk about it.   We try to think the opposite.  The positive vs the negative.   (But that’s not always possible or healthy.) I’m thinking about hands inserting IVs, hands taking blood pressures, hands documenting the code notes on a clipboard in the back of the room.   I couldn’t do these things.                                                  My hands tend to break what they touch.   The glass bowl in the pet store.                                  The clay project in art class.                                                               The succulents, the basil, the orchid. I’m good at things I don’t have to think about: good at the autopilot, good at the autonomic,                                                                                     good at trauma.
Continue reading...
47
She so___- she And__ He__ so Never ending She Comma Do-So Shop to Soho Electronics Like a Saint Satanic's His or hers Nic's and Pix Never the end If so_______ Yes Sir The math flame Password To end the dating game Hot green tip pistachios Like the long sentence_____, Your Nephews He was Huh? , So compelled to be sentenced The time treacherous Was so long At that end is where you belong Column his comma She comma Prima Donna Oh! Donna A love should be in the moment Too many Dots?plots/whatnots You forgot semicolumn The head page Semi-sweet column End chair Kingdom Knock on wood Getting splinters He used Plastic condoms Braveheart Lion Twisted sisters I was at the very end Wella She -Comma____ The money Higher up Society Brianna Barcelona Cafes Giraffe ladies boisterous drama Begin now The beginning Never met her   middle-section Which breed? She-comma She could make Anyone's bad heart Drug fix well The good heart Should be ended Dead end____& the morgue Her long tongue All She__ Rouge The question mark All parts dots here and? What is next!!! You hear the ring you jump Off the cliff the text Meet me greet him Chances are never The front It was a front Fine print you could see Smitten written deed And left her money Heavenly bliss This paper kiss Did you miss Her signature, Never a good gesture She-devil Comma, Never good ending movie Feature Never ending Please visit and come back Do I need your opinion? .,,  ...   ??
0
May 11, 2018
May 11, 2018 at 9:22 AM UTC
Never-End She-Comma
How come with all the brilliant thoroughbreds That stand strong and ready at the starting gates Those glorious, shiny coats gleaming in the sun Do I keep on beating dead horses? Instead of placing my bets on the alive and thriving? Don't I want to finally engage in the race? Don't I want to to keep my eyes on the winning prize? For a dead and decaying horse, With flies swarming about its lifeless carcass Just ain't gonna move Dead horse beating is a ludicrous hobby It is more futile than leading a thirsty horse to water that just won't drink That whip, in hand, just needs to be surrendered, put down on the ground As well as finally releasing, letting go, on the pulling of those reins So that horse can finally have a proper burial Be finally laid to rest In my dictionary Dead horse (a noun) = people, places, or things of decay that should be out of your life Dead horse beating (a verb) = from your thoughts to your actions, trying to revive a lost cause Dead horse (synonoms) =  bad relationships/friendships/acquaintances {that are of the morgue} Anything that is counterproductive to your life
0
Sep 9, 2012
Sep 9, 2012 at 1:53 PM UTC
Beating A Dead Horse
We had a really fat bird in the morgue last week; We had to put two tables together Just to accommodate her bloated mass And the funeral director said She'd need a specially reinforced coffin And a flatbed truck instead of a hearse. By the way, I think I should debunk That legend about fat chicks appreciating it more; She just lay there, like all of the others, No sign of gratitude what-so-fucking-ever.
0
Jan 14, 2016
Jan 14, 2016 at 12:14 PM UTC
Fun At The Morgue
Sana pwede akong patulugin at paganahing kumain ng inyong mga at least. At least hindi sila naparis sa mga nawala na lang sukat. At least di sila nakitang palutang lutang sa ilalim ng Jones Bridge. At least hindi ko na kailangang halughugin ang mga gusgusing morgue makita lang sila. At least buhay sila- nakakulong nga lang, may kaunting pasa sa tadyang. Sa totoo lang, nakakabingi ang inyong mga at least. Wala itong silbi sa akin sa kasalukuyan. Parang gabundok na labahing poproblemahin. Parang lukot na polo na makikita ko sa salamin. Parang masikip na brief at basang medyas. It ***** Hinuhubad nito lahat ng panatag na larawan sa aking isip. Ginugulo nito ang relasyon ng subject at predicate sa aking mga pangungusap. It really ***** Bakit naman kaya ako makukuntentong- at least buhay sila? Eh, sa ganitong bansang ang mga namumuno’y tila 3 for 50 na DVDng ibenebenta sa Raon- sino ba dapat ang nakakulong?
0
Aug 2, 2015
Aug 2, 2015 at 12:47 PM UTC
AT LEAST
Wrinkled lips leak twisted tales in your chiseled space between realities     The kids all listen to your great advice Heeding your misanthropic words and singing your praises        *"How right and noble it is to feel so glum and strive to strike down smiles with the tongue         Ma looks on as the children skin Pa to the bone          Better to receive than to give"*          They scream in monotone I sit back and watch transfixed as this transpires      Thinking on my unforgiven sins and sipping your elixir        Koolaid from the kitchen served in unwashed broken dishes         My only desire is for you to finish spinning your stories      **The lies pour forth from the intestines of a sick piglet holed up in the morgue      You couldn't be real to save your life** Your dead eyes drip crocodile tears into my glass    I watch it mix slowly and think out loud:     "You reside in Florida so I guess its appropriate"       But every puddle has it's bottom and your breath is wasted sobbing       When you're sinking just to try and float    So if you'll shut the hell up I'll be much more than happy to slit your ******* throat
0
Sep 17, 2014
Sep 17, 2014 at 4:54 PM UTC
Raining Crocodile Tears Over Florida Skies
A drowned beer-hauler was hoisted on the table. Someone had taken a dark-bright-purple aster and clamped it in his teeth. As I cut outward from his breast under the skin with a long blade and removed the tongue and palate, I must have touched the flower— she slid into the brain which lay nearby. I packed her in the cavity in his chest amid the straw stuffings as he was sewn up. Drink yourself full in your vase! Rest softly, little aster!
0
Feb 15, 2010
Feb 15, 2010 at 6:28 PM UTC
MORGUE: I. Little Aster
and we asked you for help and you laughed at the candor and we dropped dead like flies. ****** t-shirts falling from clothing lines as clothing pins litter the floor of the morgue and parents pick out caskets ten sizes too small, for dead babies and children of the night, the ones who had been hanging from street lights and shooting stars, who asked for help in the form of loud music, slow dancing, painting in dark colors, tying red balloons to doorknobs, and leaving home without layers. these children, they’re wearing t-shirts in late december and you’re wondering why they’re shivering. in the mean time, you turn your cheek and lift the zipper of your fur coats.
0
Dec 31, 2014
Dec 31, 2014 at 8:58 PM UTC
t-shirts (for Leelah Alcorn)