Prompt: The Corpse in the Window

-

 Prompt from  “642 Things to Write About” by the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto):

The corpse you saw in the Undertaker's window

She looked almost alive.
Almost.
The false flush of life
in her sallow cheeks.
Eyes closed in
a timeless sleep.
Dark hair set in curly waves
across her shoulders and
hands clasped serenely
over her breast.


She looked almost alive
Almost.
White satin and lace
a black rose in the bodice.
Delicate silk gloves
to the elbow.
Ivory stockings
a garter on her thigh
never thrown.


She looked almost alive
Almost.
Long lashes against
a colorless cheek.
A trusting smile
frozen in time.
Never knowing the betrayal
the lurked behind
the eyes of
her beloved.


She looked almost alive
Almost.
If she could take another breath
and feel love in
her cold, cold heart
Perhaps she could find happiness
within a den
of hungry vipers
whose lives are worth more
than just a sack of coin.


She looked almost alive
Almost.
Displayed in the undertaker's window.
A tragic doll
clothed in beautiful white
Where all who viewed her
pitied love's folly
and the inevitable
loss of
innocence.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poem: Keeper of the Estate (Story in Eight Stanzas, Tanka Style)

-
I. Reading of the will: they are all perched on their seats to hear what they get what has been bequeathed to them all the scheming is for this. II. A taste of power not content with just a bite they want more and more until the entire pie is all theirs to swallow whole. III. The lawyer looks up meets their eyes unflinchingly hides a little smile She had warned him about this Revenge from beyond the grave. IV. He speaks pleasantries and betrays no emotions because it's his job. Even as a sense of pride wells up from within his breast. V. There's shock and dismay crossing all of their faces They can't believe it The very nerve of her denying what they deserve. VI. Of course they protest vowing to contest the will swearing up and down fighting what they think is theirs and accusing each other. VII. Problems with power: any hint of betrayal root it out right now Extirpate it completely only then can you be safe. VII. He sits back to watch this story replays itself and he's...
Read more

Poem: Life in the Shadows

-
Skullduggery in the back alleys and run down warehouses of the city the rain washes away all evidence of the blood. Life in the shadows is hard you learn to melt away see but not be seen close your ears to the screams and the cries of the devoured. No one judges you for what you have to do to survive. The ones who do come from the moral high ground and would not survive a single night. Your soul is already damned That is cold hard fact. What matters is what you make of your short existence in the limited time you are here. Will you be one of the forgotten?  
Read more

Poem: Bastille Day (le 14 juillet)

-
Have fun storming the prison free the prisoners lettres de cachet no rhyme or reason of why they are there. No more kings or serfs feudalism is dead Declarations of the Rights of Man all are equal under the eyes of the Creator above. A celebration of freedom parades down the street a show of mighty brotherhood devotion to the cause Vive le France, monsieur.
Read more