Poem 548


Death in all its forms …

… title is a play on Lives Of The Great Poisonersa book mentioned in Under Milk Wood



Poisons Of The Great Livers

Some poisons are rapid
the ballistic speed of disease

some poisons are easy like getting up in the morning
and drowning in the shower

blue poisons
cars droughts
allergies to bees

poisons that are a long time coming
endlessly ploughing
across a plain of numbers

others that leap from behind doors
howling SUR-

not enough fibre in your diet
too much polish on the floor
respectable poisons made more than faintly ridiculous
when taken on the toilet

some poisons are whistled in
some brought like a dead child to the door

some poisons are odourless others smell of smoke
some as simple as stone or temperamental
inclined to jam
poisons hard enough to sharpen

others as soft as a fistful of marshmallows
expanding in the throat



Poisons Of The Great Livers