as i lay here rotting

A rather morbid look at the death business.

prone in eternal rest
rotting to the core
an eternity obscure
fetid the smell

 

worms and beetles
do their deed
dust and dirt
all we are

 

the lament of death
a mortician's business
grief mongers
our treasures spent

 

mourners stare
a corpse so prepared
better in death
than life presented

 

looking good
so peaceful i look
in everlasting slumber
as I lay here rotting

 

an undertaker's glee
death mimicking life
life mimicking death
money sadly spent

 

loved ones cry
friends moan
others fret
grave diggers gloat

 

costs mount
wood or brass
cotton or silk
the finest they want

 

for a putrid stiff
no longer cares
the living do
to a director's delight

 

glib they are
a dotted line to sign
only the best will do
as i lay here rotting

Author's Note

as i lay here rotting
Paul Leon Gipson (July 2008)

Reviews

[Legion]

What a perspective on the circus of burial. I love it. Put me in a cardboard box or garbage bag and bury me in the backyard with the cat (the cat is already dead and buried mind you). Kudos.

[Rick Puetter]

Dear Paul,

Was your inspiration for this William Faulkner's "As I lay dying"? It could have been! Again, your stark phases are most pleasing and tight. Congratualtions! Just a comment, though, I would use proper capitalization and punctuation. Your work is so wonderful, there is no reason to try to hide proper English. Be proper and proud. You write some amazing stuff.

Truly, best regards.

Rick