Monday, December 08, 2008

Skeleton Dance





This poem of mine has been rattling around on the hinternet for 9 years now, but has anybody read it? I dunno! So how about I put it here and maybe one of you will plop your eyes on it and have a peek.


why dance this dance of death

skeleton jangling hollow bones together

brittle bones like flutes that wail

lonely in the wind

why dance

when the grave is cool and deep around you

when the grave night sleep is calling you on to lie

to rest to slumber leaden

why nimbly dance instead

shimmy through the interstices

wriggle wormlike up through peeks and cracks rattle

on your moss grown mound and flail

against the night


why not die the cricket's death

chirrup ceasing

stoneblack body growing dry against the hill

lifedust trembling in the slightest breeze hollowed

out by age why not die this death this death why not

just die


i will not die the insect's death

never dancing to be free

i will shimmy through the maze of airholes

left inside my grave

i will issue from my tomb and sing the hollow song

i will rattle with the wind until my bones catch flesh

and flesh grows on me

until bone and ligament are clothed in silk again until

hair sprouts dark and billowing and my eyes spark

dark and gay and life flows whole and beckoning

from my limbs


i will not lie this death of death

but dance out from my grave

because i live

because i live

because i live



C. June Wolf


©1999 Obsidian Magazine

for the beautiful original setting, go to Obsidian's site (RIP!). Skeleton Dance.

7 comments:

Julie H. Ferguson said...

YEAH!!!!!

Maggie V. Jones said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Maggie V. Jones said...

Love the bones description as hollowed brittle flutes! In fact, I love all of it. ;)

Bitten by Books said...

I love it! It brought tears to my eyes. I am so twittering this.
Beautiful work. Thank you so much for sharing it with me. :)

Casey Wolf said...

Oh, I'm so glad you like it! Heart to heart, right?

Hugs.

Ana said...

Rattle on June that was an amazing poem.

brandon said...

great poem casey