Lines on a Skull

Ravi Shankar

 
(Haiku Erasure of Lord Byron's "Lines Inscribed Upon a Cup Formed from a Skull")

Start spirit; behold
the skull. A living head loved
earth. My bones resign

the worm, lips to hold
sparkling grape's slimy circle,
shape of reptile's food.

Where wit shone of shine,
when our brains are substitute,
like me, with the dead,

life's little, our heads
sad. Redeemed and wasting clay
this chance. Be of use.

 
Copyright © 2012 by Ravi Shankar. Used with permission of the author.

Poems by This Author

Ants by Ravi Shankar
One is never alone. Saltwater taffy colored
Crossings by Ravi Shankar
Between forest and field, a threshold


Further Reading

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