Have you seen my skulls?

They are so white and pretty.

Some still have all their teeth!

Others do not.

Others are missing their jawbones.

Others, still, are broken remnants.

Do they seem familiar to you?

They should!

I have written about some of them from time to time!

I wonder who has removed them from their plots?

Hmm.   An intriguing question.

Maybe one should remember to return the objects they borrow,

lest they become a part of my collection themselves.

Mm?

 

They do not smell, my skulls.

The flesh has long since been cleaned from them.

And yet they are home to darker things than worms and maggots.

They hold secrets in them, you see?

My precious, beautiful skulls!

Some are willing to share their stories with you.

While others, they are tough nuts to crack.

Get it?  Nuts?  Crack?!

HA!

 

Go ahead my dears.

Take from my pile of bone, something that calls out to you.

You might be surprised at what you find!

Or, perhaps you’ll run screaming in terror!

 

Alas, poor Readers! I knew them, fellows of infinite

jest, of most excellent fancy. They hath bore me on their backs a

thousand times, and now how abhorr’d in my imagination it is!

My gorge rises at it.

 

Have you seen my skulls?

Some are clean, new.

They have had quite the attention as of late.

Your hands have wiped away the dust,

exposing them for all to see.

 

Others, they remain covered in dust.

Forgotten in the corners of my crypt

and staring accusingly at those who pass them by.

 

It is not my intention to be fulsome, but I must confess

that I covet your skull.