The slightest movement of the body,
whether of genuine revival
or only a false alarm
caused by pockets of air
trapped in the abdomen,
triggers a sensitive
release mechanism
housed in a spring-loaded ball
positioned over the heart.
If this ball is disturbed
by so much as a twitching nerve-end,
a message is transmitted
to a box on the surface,
which immediately flies open,
admitting air to the coffin.
A flag rises in warning,
a bell rings for half an hour,
a lamp burns after sunset.
1 comment:
from Harper's Magazine (January 2008)
I like this one. (the others, not so much)
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