The Open Jaw of a Corpse

He is rotten.

His jaw lies open like a corpse,
the way that lies fall out of it.
His tongue is sour and rotting.
He forms words, but they are worthless,
because they have no substance.

He is a shell of skin and bones.
His words are as hollow as his soul.
He knows no good.
Only evil.

He is a robber of the poor and defenseless.
He is the foulest among all things.

He is a used Car Salesman, a Con-man, and a Snake Charmer all in one.

When he speaks he causes the flowers to wilt.

Author's Note

This is about no one in particuliar. Just good old Halloween/October fun. Influenced by the Bible and other influences.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

You create a scary character. Must be tricky to be a car salesman, con-man or snake charmer. Nice use of description. I wanted to know more. Thank you dear friend for sharing the amazing poetry.
Coyote

[Neville]

are you sure this i about no one in particular .. I kinda got the feeling he might be botherin you L&A .. if he is just give us a shout and I'll send over a hit man or two .. scared the pants off me so ya did :)

[light and ashes]

I am sure I wrote this inadvertently about a few people, Neville, but not intentionally.

[Vertigo Cat1111]

I love this. The pure wickedness and form of the corpse and the way it’s written is just great. This is an amazing Halloween poem, and it doesn’t just feel like a silly, goofy piece necessarily, of course. Your poems always seem to hold such a weight that works so well in each of them. I love the way this is written, thank you for sharing.

[duff]

Love it. I'm a huge Halloween fan and anything foul and grotesque makes me grin. Rotting corpses and the spirit of fall and crunchy leaves. Great job.

[light and ashes]

Thank you!!!! So glad you enjoyed it.

[The Rock And Roll Cowbo..]

Well. even though this was about no one in particular tour words have a fiery edge that is remarkable

[light and ashes]

Lol thank you :)

[Relic]

I see this as not only a good Halloween tale but a summary of self-doubt or bad thoughts that continue to manifest in our subconscience.

Nicely done. :)

[Chris Shaw]

I don't want to find myself sitting next to him when I visit my local pub :) Bad company. Very Halloweeny, but such a descriptive piece of reading and well executed.

Chris

[light and ashes]

Thank you!

[John the Baptist]

Somehow, used car salesmen have come to occupy the ground between Hitler and Judas Iscariot. For some reason, no one likes them. The only step down is politicians.

[light and ashes]

True, quite a funny observation.

[A Decent Playwright]

Even if this isn't about anyone in particular, the poem is cathartic because everyone has someone like this they can imagine. Everyone has a man in their mind whose heart they would eat in the market-place, to paraphrase Shakespeare, and be happier for it. Your strongest line in my opinion is your titular one, of lies falling out a corpse's mouth, but the whole thing as a unit flows so well.

If you haven't, I would suggest reading this out loud. It feels like it could be delivered as an angry monologue just as well as it can be read as a poem. Brilliant.

[W. Barrett Munn]

I like your closing line best. What a vivid picture it paints

Winston