Forensics

CAUTION: BIOHAZARD

My fingers swipe thru the black soot
gritty to the touch; abrasive
like a knife over warm toast
chalky mess is everywhere

I have to wipe it off before I can sit down.
Why the hell they got to dust
the goddam toilet seat?

The house had been nailed shut
Law enforcement's way of saying: "Keep the FUCK out!"
Crime scenes are often "sealed"
for up to 6 months at a time
or so they tell me...
That's a L O N G
ass time for things to fester.

We couldn't get Aunt Ruth's messages.
When we finally were allowed
entry, there were 37 well-wishers drowned
out by the buzzing flies.

Choking down the stench I try not to go upstairs
That's where she died...
I picture her limp body joined by carcasses
of old lead-based paint chips
littered about the floor
and beneath her fingernails

The coroner found the slime-fuck's skin
under there, too. Further DNA testing
proved conclusively: the perpetrator was,
indeed, my aunt's neighbor, Lester Price.

What makes a mind snap like this?

I am walking thru debris haphazardly thrown around
like lily pads on a shag carpet pond.
You don't think those cops give a shit
where they throw things, do you?
Dusted, brushed and eliminated as usable evidence
wasted, used-up, trashed like a snot-filled Kleenex--
shards of a spent life fallen victim
to mold and decay...
floating bread-crumb memories
Fall to their rest,
sinking
Down
to the bottom
of the pond.
Dead.
Kinda like my aunt.