Yellowed digits on robotic repeat
Return again and again
to pursed lips
pinched and furrowed
The body braces for the toxins
then relinquishes
knowing no contest
It is wedded to the beast
Tendrils of destruction
finger their way down
like a vile demonic creature
shapeless and creeping
into the raw pink flesh
And then spewing forth
the redundant stench
acrid and foul
apportioning the venom
to those of unsullied breath
Lines scour the aged face
Wellbeing and vitality
become hostage
to the promise of death
