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My skull, a vessel?



This skull that once was mine 

Is now a vessel for wine

What wisdom, pain or stress

Do they who taste express

 

'Twas in old Spain they had

So many such, and glad

they drank their fill

of their own free will

 

In Byron's house divine

they found a polished skull, not mine

this featured in his poems long

so as a trait it isn't wrong

 

The hermits of Meteora high

did watch their skulls upon

the shelf of stone so nigh

and prayed with monks long gone 

 

the New Guineans painted them

the Austrians gave them names

with flowers and decorations fine

defining work they did one time

 

the many ways a skull is treated

makes us wonder what is there

still in the bones preserved completed

they, once alive, are strangely bare.  


— Nordic cloud, May 03, 2009

About This Poem

About the Author

Region, Country: Oslo and Flatdal, Norway., NOR

Favorite Poets: Too daunting this.

More from this author

Critiques

M

meic

17 years 1 month ago

Hello Ann, my friend …One

Hello Ann, my friend ... One important spelling error [else I would probaby ignore it!] 'Scull' is an oar - for a rowing boat ... the word you want is 'skull'. Your poem notes say more or less what I would have put in my comment - which shows we are in tune with each other in the interpretation. The subject might be considered macabre, but certainly provokes thought. Mike "not all matterings of mind equal one violet" ~ e e cummings ~
Proprietress of Crimson Hearts

Proprietress o…

17 years 1 month ago

Ann of Norway,

what a wonderful poem, especially the first and last few lines! the read gets a bit stumbly in the middle, perhaps as one would get after drinking wine from that skull vessel? :-) I think I only noticed because your flow is usually so consistant. woudl you consider smoothing out those middle parts? I'd love to read it again, dear Ann! I just love the concept and hwat you wrote at the end, you are always so full of ideas and so inspiring. what would we do without you?! your Proprietress
Nordic cloud

Nordic cloud

17 years 1 month ago

Skull stories

I agree my dear Proprietress, I just sent it in without studying it closely and felt a little bothered here and there myself, so you are my grand goddess of guidance and see through all things. I shall do as you say, if I can. Later! Glad you liked it I have studied the many strange things connected to death and the use of dead limbs, and all sorts of graves from the aesthetic, or artistic point of view, not feeling bothered by the fact that they are graves with people below! Or above? We have a HUGE collection of such in the form of slides, enough to make a thick book, one of many projects we have cooked up to 'play' with as subject matter. Just think of the Mexican ones in Yucatan, with turquoise paint all over them and huge new pink roses, specially brushed on for the Day of the Dead, they have picnics on the tombs of their ancestors, I would like to think that people celebrated me in that manner rather than felt sad. Their ancestors are looked upon with reverence. In Austria at Hallstadt there wasn't enough room to have a graveyard so they painted the skulls instead, with the names of the dead person and their métier; also with roses and other flowers, wonderful. Ronda in Spain was where I learnt of them drinking out of them, we humans are a rum lot aren't we? Elephants visit their dead and fondle their skulls when they come across them, and seem to know to whom they belong, all very fascinating don't you think? Yours dear proprietress Ann of Norway
O

orgami

17 years 1 month ago

Skoal

ahh old skulls fine things indeed Masonics have a skull its elaborately decorated and means a lot to them I find it very interesting I had a few animal skulls in my day and have heard about people from the wars abroad about collecting them but only in print or stories "Buffalo Afernoon" a good book about Nam had a tank crew that decorated their tank in skulls and played soundtracks backwords from a P.A system to frighten the natives of the land they were conquering or blowing up or something A good poem you have made I enjoy it greatly!!
infinite_dwarf

infinite_dwarf

17 years 1 month ago

Drinking out of skulls??

I agree with Mike - very macabre, yet intriguing read. I suppose if you run out of cups.... ~Jess K. ---------------------------------------------------- - "Atheism is a non-prophet organization" - George Carlin -"Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things" - George Carlin
Cloudthings

Cloudthings

17 years ago

You wonderful scultor of imagery I love your writing dear one

You wonderful scultor of imagery I love your writing dear one... so much in here to feast on with pleasure & a smile. Wonderfully irreverent of resting bones, what a great idea, I do love it xxx~ Anni ~~~ "A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world; everyone you meet is your mirror." ~Ken Keyes, Jr.