Pink Slip for a Life

Pink Slip for a Life

 

 

the soup is cold

the room is warm with stench

ants applauding as they

work on the crackers

 

silence except for a brisk wind outside

a haunting melody

as life is estranged from his being

He won't be found for days

 

and no one will notice

the bleeding

his fluid heart

extends

 

like a perfect host

the skull will be perched on the table

angry maggots interrupted

as the door opens

 

a stern imposition

mortuary science

leaves its calling card

but at least there are still some crackers left.

 

 

erin-cilberto

8/27/22

Reviews

[Patricia Wedel]

dear Jacob... when I am ready to die... I will climb the Himmalayas and lie on the Top when the Sun is Warm... then be frozen in the Snow with Ernest Hemingway... where we will write a Book with Ice cycles.... I pray... Amen Pat

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Ice Cycles...maybe I will title my next book that.
thank you, Pat,
j.

[Patricia Wedel]

dear Jacob, thanks for being a Scholar and a Gentleman.. because of you I have a broader interest in my view of most situations, and that is a good thing. gently, Pat

[Fabian G. Franklin]

Well, he's been promoted to the "head" of his class and expelled into the great beyond. But at least some crackers remain, eh? Images of Poe and Byron.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Poe and Byron...thank you for that...I am honored to be in the same sentence with those two genius poets.
But I will sit in the back of the room, thank you.
j.

[Julie McCarthy (juliesp..]

Amazing write
Great descriptives and emotion
2nd last verse is amazing !
A cracker of a poem though not in a laughing sense !
We Have had a few cases like this it’s sad

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, Julie.
j.

[W. Barrett Munn]

Finally, a cheerful poem! This is like reading the script for the movie Seven. The only thing it needs is Morgan Freeman as narrator.
Winston

[jacob erin-cilberto]

"What's in the box?"
thank you, Winston,
j.

[Lathen Griffiths]

I found your poem here ‘pink slip for a life’ quite shocking, but what I found most shocking of all is that, if I would have viewed a similar scene on a TV screen, I probably wouldn’t have thought twice about it these days… We have become numb to images, but your poem here reminds us of the power of words, your ability to balance horror with your own strain of humour makes this so unique.

Lathe

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I really appreciate your kind review, Lathe,
j.

[Chris Shaw]

Oh J, this hit home hard. Dying and remaining undiscovered for weeks, even longer in some cases. We had a woman of about 38 in recent times who had died in her flat and remained undiscovered for over two years. The TV was still on and the Christmas tree up with its presents neatly wrapped. The tragedy was she had siblings who didn't care enough to make contact. How sad that this can happen in present times. Shocking actually. What a reflection on our species. Rivetting piece.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind review....
One of my good friends was found about a week after he had passed...NO one knew.
j.