COOPERATIVE CADAVERIC CUSTODY
I gingerly handle the dead
To ensure a bruiseless corpse
I observe all methods of postmortem care
And standards as a matter of course.
Most decedents are viewed open casket
So it behooves the pathologist to know
The techniques to use when handling deceased
So autopsy markings don't show.
We charily follow the necropsy schedule
And behave as cautious prosectors
Corpses leave the morgue's custody
And enter the domain of the Funeral Director.
All sutured incisions should be sharp and clean
And under burial attire, must remain unseen.
When positioning the carcass on its anterior side
Prevent facial bruising, so difficult to hide.
During cranial examination, reflect the scalp past the hairline at your own risk
You might leave creases in the forehead that the embalmer can't efface
Upon removal of the brain, before the notched calvarium is replaced
Fill the cavity with absorbent material to hold the cranial shape.
.Remove the testes.
.Through the inguinal canal.
.Because posterior perforations.
.Allow embalming fluid out.
.Pathology becomes an art.
.When dead are opened with nominal marks.
.Embalmers welcome my proficiency.
.And morticians value my scrutiny.
Carotid neck organs left intact
Iliac arteries promptly ligatured
The stiff is deftly rendered leak proof
With a Y-incision running suture.
Organs are restored to the body in a plastic bag
The breastplate returned to reduce chest sag.
Rinsing the corpse with cold water, we purify
Then allow the body to drip clean and air dry.
Refrigerated to stave off the ravaging putrefactive progressive skin changes
Dusky hands rest on abdomens as tied gauze strips cinch slack arms into place
The hearse-delivered corpse is signed over to local funeral director representatives
Where, at the parlor, they'll lay the rotting head on a perfumed casket pillowcase.
.Remove the rectum.
.Far from the anus.
.Lest embalming fluid leak.
.From a rectal stump unligated.
Funeral home assistants haunt hospital basement alleys
For sundered anatomized cadaveric deliveries.
Piled into hearses, to the chagrin of watching nurses,
The enshrouded carcass reeks most unsavorily.
.Carcass sealed expertly.
.Undue holes mitigated.
.Stench increasingly redolent.
.As fluids are aspirated.
.Beyond the toe-tagged feet.
.Beneath the blood drenched sheets.
.Inside the cavities sewn.
.The morgue's marriage with the funeral home.
