“Antelife” by Dan Mabee

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Antelife

Death smells the freshest at two in the afternoon,

just after the embalming, when you can still see

the wet glistening on the skin, like a newborn baby

still slippery in the afterbirth.

On the other side of breathing there is a place where

the dead are expected and anticipated just as a mother

looks anxiously for the day when she can take her baby from

the ante-life.

This piece was published in 2023 as part of the 12th Annual Mormon Lit Blitz by the Mormon Lit Lab. Sign up for our newsletter for future updates.