Bodies...

So much death

Life is so demanding,

and death is so commanding,

there is much to see,

you could even keep score,

beginning with the bodies

battered by a two-by-four,

or bludgeoned with tire irons, cinder blocks,

baseball bats,

bodies filled with maggots and alley rats,

gaping wounds from carving knives,

shot guns fired at cheating wives,

bodies in public housing project stairwells,

there’s so much harm,

hypodermic needles still in their forearm,

dried blood traces,

and that pathetic look of calm on their faces,

lost in total defeat,

bodies pulled out of the sea

with reluctant blue crabs

clinging to hands and feet,

all around you see the dead,

fallen bodies in alleys, bodies in bed,

you’ll find them in body bags,

bodies in the trunk of a Chrysler

with out of state tags,

bodies crushed by heavy machinery

washed up on river rocks,

suicide, matricide, homicide,

suffocated by carbon monoxide,

or suspended by a pair of sweat socks

from the top of a police holding cell,

ghosts staring at the bodies,

wondering if they’re in Hell.

Reviews

[Adam :P]

that was probably my top 3 that I've have read on this site. wonderfull i loved the last 2 lines the best. wonderful.

[Dizzy]

Oh so many ways that death can take people. A poem of the death is an interesting one.

[Justin Littlefield]

This is great. I like all the variations of death and the morbid imagination it creates. Excellent approach and execution!

[SweetPeachesAlways]

Well, alrighty then! Great write. I love the visuals but then, I've been watching "Bones" lately, so think of me what you will! :P (And I'm from Florida - we just dump the bodies in the swamp and keep the alligators happy ;) )

I never critique, but I confess to being a trifle anal about good old grammar. Shotguns is one word and I believe out-of-state should be hyphenated. I know, I know - I said I was anal about it!

[Michael X]

raw and real and definitely impacting, I loved the way you created the dramatic effect to ponder, and the scenery the gasping, brilliant, honest and chocked full of riveting images, I really enjoyed this :)

[Chaos X 3]

Sweet! I know, what a weird thing to say about a poem that talks of bodies and death, but this was a really good poem. Your rhyming scheme (and this is coming from someone that sucks at rhyming schemes. Poetry is poetry.) is a little off, but still manages to have a profound effect in the beginning.
"Life is so demanding,
and death is so commanding,
there is much to see,
you could even keep score,
beginning with the bodies
battered by a two-by-four,"

It's was within these few beginning lines that really grabbed me. I couldn't stop reading after the two by four part. awesome job!