The House of Flies

Joseph Danoski

Someone nodded off with the TV on,

All the lights in the house left on till dawn.

People passed on by, noticing nothing wrong,

Through dark midwinter when nights are long.

Dead man in the living room,

A still-life in the gloom.

One day some children playing hide and seek,

Noticed the neighborhood’s starting to reek.

Local teens enjoying their burgers and fries,

Wondered what was up with all the flies;

From that house across the street,

The smell of rotten meat.

A plastic snowman, Christmas lights still on,

The neglected yard and overgrown lawn.

The neighbors got concerned, to keep the peace,

One day someone finally called the police;

To report that something’s wrong,

Suspected for so long.

Someone died asleep with the TV on,

All the lights in the house left on till dawn.

When the emergency crew did force the door,

His corpse slid off the chair, and hit the floor.

Dead man in the living room,

His home became his tomb.

Joseph V. Danoski is a writer of letters and essays on diverse subjects, with strong opinions on many topics. A poet of horror, science fiction, and fantasy; he has been  published in journals and webzines both in the US and abroad. Various publications include Scavenger’s Newsletter, Pegasus, Red Owl, The Ultimate Unknown, Penny Dreadful, Pivot, Psychopoetica (UK), The Nocturnal Lyric, The Quest (India) The Aurorean, The Mentor & Masque Noir (Australia), Twilight Ending, Talvipaivanseisaus (Finland), The Romantics Quarterly, Hadrosaur Tales, Endemoniada, Northern Stars Magazine, Taj Mahal Review (India), The NeoVictorian, The Eclectic Muse (Canada), Frisson, Black Petals, Outer darkness, Yellow Mama, Sanitarium Magazine, A Year of Sundays 2023, and The Horror Zine.

Other activities include being a multi-instrumentalist, songwriting, and recording original music. Joseph currently resides in Berlin, New Hampshire. Dojonaki05@Gmail.Com