Antemortem Thanatopraxis

Prone on the mortuary slab
Naked and sedated
Horrified
Undergone my sick thanatopraxis

Removing viscera
Purging fluids I extract
Arteries I deplete
Cavities filled with formalin

Antemortem disembowelment

Cotton in nostrils and throat
Slow suffocation
Muscles and fendons I snap
To dislocate the stiffened limbs

Antemortem thanatopraxis

Face features molded from wax
Grotesque disfigurement
Effacing surgical scars
Necroplastic surgery

Glued eyelids
Hairstyled scalp
Tied-shut mouth
Face made-up
Lavaged and perfumed
The corpse is now ready to be inhumed

Antemortem thanatopraxis