this infection

she walks in through a haze of smoke,
she was a girl, she's now a ghost.
her stench reverberates the air,
her scalp is white. she has no hair.
the bones protrude throughout her skin,
she once was fat. she now is thin
with ears as sleek and pointed as
with hearing, small and like a bat.
she does not walk. instead she goes
on archéd foot atop her toes.
her eyes are dim with muted sight -
there's something here that isn't right.

her gown is lace and tattered rags,
beneath her eyes are hollow bags.
her cheeks are shrunken, sunk in deep.
her mouth surrounds so many teeth.
she's bruised and scarred from head to limb
with flesh decayed and mottled skin.
there's something bad that's happened here -
her mouth is slashed from ear to ear.

a glasgow smile, chelsea grin,
but chelsea won't be home again.