bells

the sound of death is bells

not the sound of dying, not the process

it's the sound of being 

dead

the sound is bells ringing

unheardly, gorgeous, purposeless 

not a wail or wimper
not from mouths

but bells just bells
the scent the touch the taste

of lifelessness is not

scents, touches, or tastes,

not bells the objects,

not their odors of corrosion, their cracks, their ammonian notes

but the stark felt absence of those

in the stark felt presence of the sound of
death is