Jangly Bones

On the eve of her death lay a ballad composed
With her mouth wide open
and his eyes closed
From deep velvet mellowed out baritones
He conjured up a love-song
from
her jangly bones

Whittling away on splintered body parts
And the charred remains of her skeleton heart
He played her like wind-chimes made of pearl-string stones
In fresh river water
over her jangly bones

I witnessed him
Rip the bones from her flesh
Even before she’d been laid to rest
And then when she’d not long been buried
I saw him
Dig her free from a gnarly grave
And dismantle the rest of her body
bone by bone
piece by piece
Natures redress
Hanging carelessly off tethered
flesh

Then sculpting from her remains
a rattlesnake instrument
crooning
to the angles of the moonlight
Cluttery cymbals chiming out a resounding symphony
Sounding out notes
from piano keys
fashioned
from her hands and ribs
and ears and feet

Hanging limp and cold this vixen queen moulds
a plastic mannequin of left over skin and bones
melted out of salty sticks and the blood of stones
conjuring up a rhapsody of musical tricks

Scuttling up up up
to shake rattle stir
onto the mountain of skittles of spidery legs
Then the squeezing release of orbital jelly
splashing beetle juice
over hollowed out eyes

Leaving the smoky wood flavour of her dried and wrinkled pulp
and scorched carcass withered with the memories of his most concealed secrets
Then finally
he left her
blowing by the remains of her skin
and hair and lashes

I laid to rest her jangly bones
Surrendering her memories
Piece by piece
Bone by bone
Committing her musical composition to my mind and soul  
Her altered carcass starting to soften
In the dirt and the sun
Vowing
She would not be forgotten