Scarlet by Asim Khan

   What is the difference between dead men?
She responds with misoprostol
Behind the closed crimson curtains
Glistering in the television strobe
   A head on a pillow rests,
Toppled, induced, destroyed
As neighbours fight for fun
A postcard mockery — addressed to
An empty void
   A call to the father
She cries to the son
She kills! — He kills! The spirit inside
And it dies in aphelion
   It rains, hails upon the land
The darkness scars all thought
Alone, she wanders
Wonders alone
Of death that can be bought
   What is the difference between dead men?
What is the difference between them and us?
What if I have died already inside?
What is the difference between us?

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