Asperse: (v, tr) 1: To spread false or malicious charges against someone 2: To sprinkle with holy water (OR: Upon the softening of aging bodies.)

Is there, somewhere beneath the skin,
A heart still beating flame?
Is there hardened muscle below the fat?

Or is there atrophy in the limbs?
Is there routine pumping through the veins?
Are you choked with degraded meat?

The surgeries are all retrograde motion,
And the sullied portions fade with every
New breeze anyway.

Spreading holy water across the skin
Will purify the tainted flesh, indeed,
But is renewed discipline any less vain?