M. A. Duxbury-Hibbert
In the plague village
In the plague village
Contagion is passed by word of mouth
Warm breath on the face
And a fatal hook in the vitals.
In the fever sweat of nightmare
You awake regurgitating the words
Which thread the corpuscles of your blood
And echo in sleep’s aching excavations.
In the plague village
There are no crosses on the doors
But scraps of paper inscribed with
Indecipherable obscenities
Stuck down with gobs of chewing-gum
Smelling of bad breath.
In the plague village
The gaga count is high
And the radiation readings
Bounce from the granite walls
In disbelief.
The villagers have inside information
From undisclosed sources
That the mining operation on the mountain
Is a cover for unclear dumping.
They huddle in fluorescent kitchens
Incubating vague details
Fermenting cloudy toxins of their own.
In the plague village
The word was heard
From a third
Who shall be nameless
But never blameless.
Page(s) 26
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