For a prompt by Poets United. The Thursday Think Tank #63- Something Stinks
“Kinsman,”
he ventured,
“I smell of
burning feathers doused in paraffin”
And as he
said this, his wrinkled nose
Dilated,
constricted, dilated again
“But,” he
continued, “my nose hasn’t picked
A smell so
vile as that of a liar’s;
His breath
hits the pit of your stomach
Mixed with
cheap honesty and adulterated
Knowy-snowy”
Upon which I
said:
“You talk
big, sir, speak from my level”
“Look at it
this way:
The rancid
smell of a lying tongue
Escapes the
barricaded walls of a mouth
Why so?”
“I don’t
know”
“Because it
diffuses, my son, it diffuses
Bad smells
have layers and levels
Like ethyl
mercaptan, they stink to high heavens!
You smell
pungent things everywhere in the city
From the
broken sewer to festering wounds of
Beggars lying
in the sun
In the
evening, behind your closed doors
You will see
the mouth of a politician open
Spitting
tommyrot and carrion
For the next
three hours you will spray air freshener
And see
little or no result!”
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