Photo by Joyce Hankin
Collection
Allison Camp
For someone who finds death
perpetually tragic perhaps a skull
collection is an odd selection
White with gaping nothing
pulls me closer to life
invites the mystery of being
Some were found clean, fully intact
Others required a gruesome
roadkill encounter, then water
A pile of bones–teeth, mandibles,
skull–jigsawed
to piece all the thoughts
of a life back together
I put you on the shelf with the others
look into the holes of your eyes,
darkness stares back.
We are thinking about each other.
Allison Camp
For someone who finds death
perpetually tragic perhaps a skull
collection is an odd selection
White with gaping nothing
pulls me closer to life
invites the mystery of being
Some were found clean, fully intact
Others required a gruesome
roadkill encounter, then water
A pile of bones–teeth, mandibles,
skull–jigsawed
to piece all the thoughts
of a life back together
I put you on the shelf with the others
look into the holes of your eyes,
darkness stares back.
We are thinking about each other.