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 disembovelment

Cotton in nostrils and throat - slow suffocation

Muscles and fendons I snap to dislocate the stiffened

limbs

Antemortem disembovelment

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 disembowelment