Forensic Fugues and Medicolegal Medleys
My beloved autopsy ward, the product of hospital architects Inspected and approved by the College of American Pathologists Adjacent to the morgue and behind the administrative receptionist Kept under lock and key, available only to us morbid scientists… Two stationary MedRax® dissection slabs and a moveable body hoist Their stainless steel plating scrubbed, sanitized, and still moist The tables are set at regulation height to avoid unnecessary strain Disinfected water pumps and aspirators wash debris down the drain… White tiled walls…epoxy sealed floor Adequate overhead lighting…to grossly explore Tools of the trade…filed away in drawers 10,000 square feet…of legally sanctioned gore Morgue design, of the most practical kind Dictates the efficient dissection of your fellow mankind The layout of the autopsy ward should be nefariously refined And elevate necropsy to an art, for those so inclined… Air conditioning design and primary system ventilation Enable complete aeration of formaldehyde fixative in dissection stations The ventilation hoods and exhaust design steal the odor of putrefaction And are in accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration… Cabinet space…for microbiological supplies Medical twine…for the closure stitches I tie Bone saw whine…a postmortem lullaby Dictation equipment…court records to testify For my Stryker® saw, disassembled and cleaned I pen this requiem, in honor of the remains it’s seen For my Stubenhauer® scalpel, sharpened and honed I compose this sonata, for the autopsies it’s performed… The whiteboard conveniently located next to the hanging organ scale Lists charts lucubrately completed with organ weights and interesting details Close by, the x-ray facility and the many knobs and dials it entails Will ensure, with accurate forensics, that diagnostic truth shall prevail… The adjoining dressing room houses lockers and showers So that medical personnel will be routinely scrubbed and scoured Hands are cleansed with Iodophor soap; germs are devoured Surfaces are soaked with phenol-based detergents at any given hour… Pressured Autoclaves…cook instrument debris Disposal bins…full of pieces disembodied Spare flash bulbs…for body photography Specimen bags…hold paraffin-set tissue trophies The science of death…a morbid philosophy Death certificate pad…the coroner’s eulogy My beloved morgue…home of forensic pathology The autopsy suite…for life’s final catastrophes
Submitted by VladTheImpaler666 — Apr 26, 2025
When unidentified remains are relinquished to our care That are so decayed and liquefied as to make diagnosis quite a chore When the putrescent canvas of death is teeming with bristling life With tiny anthropoid stowaways nestled in every pore… My autopsy technicians mistake the corpse shudder for a cadaveric spasm But upon closer inspection they witness the nauseating wave of insect activity The feasting and chatter drowns the neon hum from the morgue lamps and fans And the ambient temperature rises 5 degrees as their chitinous bodies skitter in putridity… The corpse is alive...reanimated through entomological means The John Doe swells...as parasitic activity literally bursts through his seams Seeping rivers of eggs...hatching larvae are hurriedly washed down the drain Call the Forensic Entomologist…everyone knows he’s got bugs on the brain… …Carcass hive… …Cadaverine nest… The Forensic Entomologist is a specialist in this field Of which there are three separate and distinct components The Urban field deals with insect/human environment matters Stored-Products handles infestation of commodities and products… But the one that we require is the Medicolegal Entomology field With its eccentric bug experts and their forensic Ph.D.’s They’ve classified and catalogued their necrophilous winged friends And can determine PMI by the stadiums and stages of insect activity… …Blowflies…spiders…beetles…mites and lice… …Maggots…larvae…pupa…hatch and fly… …Crawling…squirming…breeding…burrowing… …Medicocriminal entomology… The Forensic Entomologist will analyze the cadaveric colonization Taking samples and noting the current state of the Blowfly population After determining the extent of the recent Coleoptera infestation He will estimate the time of death so that we may continue with the examination… …When tissue liquefies and attracts the clavicorn … …The flies are drawn and oviposit their eggs… …From this predictable process, tiny maggots are born… …Named Instar Larvae, which then grow to Prepupae… The maggot molts through three instar stages, plumping as they gnaw Colonies hatch together and migrate across the corpse as a collective group As a result of this infestation, they disseminate bacteria and secrete enzymes Which enable nearly all of the soft tissue to be dissolved and consumed… Depending on the habitat and the abundance of the region The expert can determine if the Diptera is currently in season Whether the Bottle fly prefers bright sunlight or shade And if the Coleopteran is nocturnal or active during the day… Oviposited eggs encrust the natural orifices and moist recesses Maggots swim in wound sites consuming rotting necrotic flesh The examiner’s gloved hand is thrust wrist-deep in this bug colony Searching through the thriving mush for additional squirming evidence… …Parasitic swarm… …Maggot colony… …Blowflies…spiders…beetles…mites and lice… …Maggots…larvae…pupa…hatch and fly… …Crawling…squirming…breeding…burrowing… …Medicocriminal entomology…
Submitted by Grave666 — Apr 26, 2025
Between the deceased eyeball’s crystalline lens and retina A clear gel-like mass that constitutes 80% of the eye This volume of lubricious fluid is named vitreous humor And can tell the toxicologist relatively when someone died… The unblinking eyes of the stinking corpse… Reveal time of death of the forensic sort… Vitreous humor so oily and viscous… Make the stiff a posthumous eyewitness… Hours after death, body potassium levels rise Vitreous humor is not affected by this change We can test the ocular fluid for an accurate PMI The toxicologist will compare it against the normal range… Hypodermics filled with watery slime… From eyeballs to test tubes, ocular grime… Toxicologists measure potassium levels… From the decedent’s vitreous humor samples… …Disgusting muck… …Optic gunk… …Punctured orb… …Eyeball gore… Perspicaciously evaluating the toxicologists findings Illuminating the dead with a method so blinding Glomming the fluid from the posterior compartment side Determining PMI from the postmortem faculty of sight… …The sunken eyeball… …Has secrets to tell… …With its vitreous gel…
Submitted by Grave666 — Apr 26, 2025
Festering tumefied remains… …Stinking upon the dissection block… …Cellular structure autolyzed… …Dermal adhesion run amok… …Slipping skin… …Marbled flesh… …Sloughing dermis… …Discolored mess… …Odorous putrefactants… …Seeping from bloated pores… …Ptomaine vapors sting sinuses… …Hemolysis burns and gnaws… …Slipping skin… …Marbled flesh… …Sloughing dermis… …Discolored mess… …Cadaver thorax shedding rot… …Outer layer peeling green… …Flays of skin rind in coils… …As gasses burst through the seams… …Vitiated fetid tissue… …Autolytic vitriolic decay… …Necro-dermatological issues… …As the epidermis flakes away… …Slipping skin… …Marbled flesh… …Sloughing dermis… …Discolored mess…
Submitted by Cyberwaste — Apr 26, 2025
Putrescine and cadaverine The pungent twins of putridity Colorless and syrupy Biogenic amines... Putrescine and cadaverine Vapor of ornithine The stench of death visits me In the morgue laboratory... (Perfume of rot...heady, thick and hot) Putrescine and cadaverine Brothers in liquidity Fuming stench of carcass stink Noisome gas, fetid glee... Putrescine and cadaverine Ambassadors of ripened reek Breaking down dead protein Egressing odors miasmically... (Sickening stink...makes watering eyes blink) These dual chemical compounds, released shortly after death Cloud the pleasant morgue ambiance with their foul, rotten breath Fraternally bound to haunt swollen distended bodies Their chemical reactions clash amidst rank autopsies... NH2(CH2)4NH2...Putrescine! C5H14N2...Cadaverine! NH2(CH2)4NH2...Putrescine! C5H14N2...Cadaverine! Gorges rise and heave with the stench A symphony of sickness, perfumed with putrescence While affronted senses nauseously totter and lurch The carcass breeds odor, and chemically gives birth... NH2(CH2)4NH2...Putrescine! C5H14N2...Cadaverine! NH2(CH2)4NH2...Putrescine! C5H14N2...Cadaverine! The ripened tang of gaseous decomposition let loose in the morgue Overtaxed fans strain to aerate the grave-ly polluted ward Tumefied decedents belch their chemical cohorts into the air The airborne corpse-whiff adheres to fabrics, skin, and hair (Acrid reek...odiferous cadaver leak)
Submitted by Grave666 — Apr 18, 2026
Before the effluvial corpse is consumed By gastronomic decay and suppuration The stiffening husk is surveyed and tested For suitability of organ donation… Tissue typing… Donor screening… Biopsy testing… Organ dealing… Postmortem examination of cadaveric remains For a harvesting effort deemed most humane Splayed open cadavers where organs are obtained Crumpled wax paper and body parts are exchanged… Kidney transplantations… Corneal donations… Liver procurations… Anatomic emancipation… For us prosectors to peculate According to stringent procurement laws Mandated and regulated by the state… Fuliginous, fulvous, and glaucously blue Organs are retrieved and prepared for transference Haruspicating the dehisce corpse Divining life from death in this graveolence… Permission is garnered from next of kin Embrangled in anatomical waste Taking comfort from this rebarbative task I altruistically dissect without haste… Forensic scientist… Transplantation artist… Autopsy altruist… Organ harvest…
Submitted by MetalElf — Apr 26, 2025
The tepid carcass examinately reclines on my table Its peculiar muscular activity, rigor mortis, works in my favor Determining PMI through rigid, bone-cracking means Postmortem rigidity occurs through the depletion of ATP… Adenosine triphosphate is required for muscle relaxation But metabolic activity continues after death and creates a reaction Lactid acid is spent and exhausts the store of glycogen Muscles go hard from the abnormal links between actin and myosin… This maturating stiff… Becomes quite stiff… Positioning the corpse can be quite a Herculean task As I bend the crepitating unmalleable limbs with revolting cracks Obstinate appendages stubbornly give way under my dragoon efforts My aching muscles are overtaxed and pushed well passed discomfort… …Paralytic legs, unflexing arms… …Carrion with all its frozen charm… …Unmoving torso, intractable neck… …Deplorable corpse a total wreck… Between 2 and 12 hours is the solidifying time required For abductors and adductors to become unyieldingly mired It will take a day for outstretched extremities to acquiesce Finally amenable to my adroit limb-wrenching finesse… The lampooning hu-mannequin’s muscle proteins are devoured As the taciturn body achieves maximal rigor in 12 hours 12 hours more and the muscular fiber grudgingly give way When the proteolytic enzymes in the lysosomes of muscle cells escape… …Corpse piquantly olid… …Now maceratedly flaccid… Barring rare cadaveric spasms, a PMI timeline can be mapped Factor in environmental variables and the effects they can have Ripening malodorous remains can speak from the grave And tell us their time of death by how their muscles behave… …Paralytic legs, unflexing arms… …Carrion with all its frozen charm… …Unmoving torso, intractable neck… …Deplorable corpse a total wreck…
Submitted by Grave666 — Apr 26, 2025
Ravaged, torn, and punctured—the carcass oozes from multiple wounds Avulsed and sliced, the dermis weeps pus and purge fluid with clear, viscous goo Prior to the initial incision, before my scalpel is baptized bloody wet We determine the postmortem interval using a simple algebraic formula for death… A direct body core temperature measurement, postmortemly taken, is the order of the day The corpse is lifted on its side and a slit in its pants is cut in the most delicate way Lacerations leak wasted heat and fluid, as the body cools in a predictable manner My assistant lubricates the thermo-couple probe, a massive 12-inch long chemical thermometer… …Freezing hold… …Corpse gone cold… …Cooling blood… …An icy flood… …The body a husk; its innards are spilt… …This ferocious anal probing causes no guilt… …A facet of my profession, this duty I’ve sworn… …I stab forth the thermometer as the anus is torn… Environmental conditions of the crime scene are meticulously recorded And the room temperature of the dissection room is dubiously noted The core temperature of the carcass plummets through means of convection Physical science triumphs over life as heat escapes through radiation… Moritz’s formula is the rule of thumb from which I can derive: “98.6°F – rectal temperature ÷ 1.5” This equation produces the time of death, though nothing is quite this ideal Whether oral, rectal, brain or liver, I shall monitor the temperature with the greatest zeal… This gelid method of detection has a cold-bloodedly frigid appeal Observe the sanguine-streaked suppuration chill, pool, and congeal Witness my barbarous severe intubation with unsanitized tools Truculently sodomizing corps-icles, making purple raw recta drool... …Freezing hold… …Corpse gone cold… …Cooling blood… …An icy flood… …Postmortem interval, the mystery at hand… …Thrusting the probe past the prostate gland… …The carcass is conquered by deaths cold will… …Not even bactericidal rot can thwart its chill…
Submitted by Lake of Tears — Apr 26, 2025
Extravasated hemoglobular vitality Vascular death, hematological finale The postmortem settling of blood called lividity A fascinating aspect of PMI morbidity… Capillary beds… Are sodden red… Coagulants unglued… Bruised black and blue… Hypostasis, fixed and bruised Blanched extremities a purplish hue Sticky quagmire of darkened goo The cadaver’s posterior grumously imbrued… Paludal mess… Blood-tattoo compress… Maroon patterns in flesh… Rot’s cruel caress… The unmistakable gravitational pull after the cessation of breath The tiny red blood cells separate from plasma and sink Clotting inside the lower recesses until the decedent stinks… Arteries leak… Veins deplete… Blood secretes… Marinating meat…
Submitted by Nargaroth — Apr 26, 2025
Carbonized extremities cooked and charred Burst organs jellified simmering in boiling lard Smoking slab of blackened burnt meat Scent of immolation, sickeningly sweet… Horrifying corpses posed by flame Muscles constricted, melted, and maimed Postures assumed from the singing heat Posthumous pugilistic athletes… Muscle fiber twisted, gnarled, and hard Scorched arms in a feeble boxer’s guard Superheated flesh chips excoriate and flake From this repulsive side of cooked human steak… Hardened skin dulls my blades Incandescent embers stoke this flambé Tangled remains of this funeral pyre Increase morgue temperature and make me perspire…
Submitted by Corpse Grinder — Apr 26, 2025
Alphabetic diagram… …Of the gross exam… Medical examiners are detectives, who forensically sift through a body of evidence It’s rarely simple, as you can see...the organs are on the inside We open up the corpse to find the clues that point to an explanation that might make sense Let’s crack the cadaver open for a little peek and document what we find… …With scalpel in hand… …I hatch the plan… Whether man, woman, child—the procedure is always the same Beginning the medicolegal autopsy isn’t very hard The thoracoabdominal incision is the name of this turgidly morbid game And the letter “Y” is the shape that we must carve… All ME’s worth their salt keep a blade of their own And have their scalpel professionally sharpened, polished, and honed Because of its ability to cut through skin, meat, gristle, and bone We keep track of it from the opening of the corpse to when it is sewn… …I must confess… …This will make a mess… …The stiff is ripe and putrefied… …I scalpel the mephitic skin… …And trace the letter “Y”… …So the autopsy begins… In order to field dress this cadaver we cut from the bottom of the neck to above the crotch Some pathologists prefer to first puncture the bloated corpse to release built-up methane gas Simply grasp the scalpel and apply downward pressure at the jugular notch You’ll find the skin will slice like butter, revealing subcutaneous tissue and ballooning yellow fat… …No time to flinch… …Only amateurs cringe… Draw the blade down over the body of the sternum and breastplate Past the manubrium and xiphoid process and costoxiphoid ligament group Split the rectus abdominal muscle without a measure of haste Then stop and wipe your brow and take a moment to recoup… Peel back the flayed skin and shear it from the muscle sides Taking the retractors, spread the carcass wide Costal cartilage snaps from each of the ribs so we may look inside The inner organs sit on display—glistening—with nothing to hide… …You’ve earned your degree… …In the art of necropsy… …The stiff is ripe and putrefied… …I scalpel the mephitic skin… …And trace the letter “Y”… …So the autopsy begins…
Submitted by Iron_Wraith — Apr 26, 2025
Soft tissue decomposition formula that expounds and elucidates …Y=1285/X… A rough estimate of putrefactive progression to stalwartly vaticinate …Y=1285/X… Where Y is the number of days to become completely skeletonized …Y=1285/X… And X is the average centigrade temperature with which to surmise …Y=1285/X…
Submitted by NecroGod — Apr 26, 2025