The Descent

An exhumed corpse thrice turned upon a mottled
Gloaming. The carcass disintegrating, a feast for
Groaning demons. Mengele smiling down upon
The broken bodies, the hollow eye evanescing,

A faceless mask that bores into the brain; the
Pyrrhic miens waning, their ravaged souls lost
On wraithlike shores. A Branch Covidian mounts
Upon a deadly charger, as the unvaccinated flee –

The thunder of cruel witch hunters defiling the
Dawn; their inhuman dirks glistening, lusting for
Virgin blood, the wold of skulls down howling in
The rain; the black sun burning, the death knell

Tolling, the chrysalis searing, a balm to every lurking
Knave. A new child on the pyre, the psychiatrist’s
Happy morrow, evil angels swarming like locusts
On the plains; snickering hyenas waltzing with the

Caduceus, the revenant howling, a vermilion mark
On every brow. Manacled were the lovelorn beyond
The tarn of oblivion; cries from the pediatric ward,
Another VAERS report unborn on sallow weeds.

And upon primordial zones of insensate night: the
Swastika screaming over the blasted battlements,
A ghastly rune inexorable, as Nazis do the cancan,
And reason drowns unto the fading of the half-light.

David Penner’s articles on politics and health care have appeared in Dissident Voice, CounterPunch, Global Research, The Saker blog, OffGuardian and KevinMD; while his poetry can be found at Dissident Voice, Mad in America, and redtailedhawk.substack.com. Also a photographer, he is the author of three books of portraiture: Faces of The New Economy, Faces of Manhattan Island, and Manhattan Pairs. He can be reached at 321davidadam@gmail.com. Read other articles by David.