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Underpainting
Of all mad mysteries on which we mull,
When one conundrum's fitted to the chase,
We ask which gaze is grimmer than the skull
That taunts the living with its stony grace.
In the macabre seasons, there's no null
Of simulated carcasses to place,
Yet still this dread forewarning seems to dull
As one gets older, how is this the case?
We live and fear within a tiny lull
From birth to death, protected in that hull,
The brain a flower in its bony vase,
And all its curves foundation for our face.
Why should we fear our toothy friend at all?
Our thoughts are cradled in its vaulted space!
When one conundrum's fitted to the chase,
We ask which gaze is grimmer than the skull
That taunts the living with its stony grace.
In the macabre seasons, there's no null
Of simulated carcasses to place,
Yet still this dread forewarning seems to dull
As one gets older, how is this the case?
We live and fear within a tiny lull
From birth to death, protected in that hull,
The brain a flower in its bony vase,
And all its curves foundation for our face.
Why should we fear our toothy friend at all?
Our thoughts are cradled in its vaulted space!
Interesting interpretation of the prompt. Some kind of sonnet form, but I'm not up on the differences between the various ones, so I'm not sure which. Lull/hull/all may be a bit of a weak rhyme, and "macabre" doesn't seem to fit the rhythm, but the rest all works well. Nice musing on how people find skulls so unnerving. Alas, poor Yorick. I knew him, Horatio.
Poetry's kind of odd sometimes. Like here, once I've read it once already, it's very clear that your first mention of the skull is introducing it as the subject. But on a first read, I just figured it was a piece of imagery and glossed over it without that sinking in until later. But that's on me, as I don't think I would have made a different choice of how to frame it.
Poetry's kind of odd sometimes. Like here, once I've read it once already, it's very clear that your first mention of the skull is introducing it as the subject. But on a first read, I just figured it was a piece of imagery and glossed over it without that sinking in until later. But that's on me, as I don't think I would have made a different choice of how to frame it.