#skull
I dissected my brain on a sterile metallic table,
I pushed the scalpel down through a sticky membrane,
that held my flaws.
I washed my scalp in drug store rubbing alcohol,
in an attempt to scrub memories away.
I splashed in a little bleach,
so that the scars might fade.
I scooped out all of the tainted parts,
I used forceps to tear out,
all the dysfunctional pieces.
Once I was done,
I looked inside my skull,
and I realized,
there was nothing left.
Apr 7
Apr 7, 2026 at 2:45 PM UTC
the wet weight of a Tuesday
presses against the back of my skull
where the salt collects in ridges.
I am counting the pulses in my thumb,
one for every time the window
vibrates from a truck I cannot see.
my teeth feel too large for my gums
and the copper taste of a penny
is stuck under my tongue,
insistent and metallic.
there is a pigeon on the ledge
with one clouded eye staring
at the way my knuckles turn white
when I grip a glass of lukewarm water.
the clock isn't ticking,
it is just moving forward
without asking for permission.
I forgot the name of the person
who used to sleep on this side of the bed
so I am breathing into the empty space
until my lungs feel heavy with old air.
the ceiling has a crack shaped
exactly the way my thumb feels.
Mar 31
Mar 31, 2026 at 10:08 PM UTC
Burning desire for a flesh
Tear it apart,
Pound them hard;
Nether are screaming—
Another angel to consume!
The master is not in my skull
It is inside my pants.
Mar 18, 2025
Mar 18, 2025 at 10:43 PM UTC
There's no escaping these prison walls of skull and bone that nobody sees
The only thing stopping me is me, or so it seems
Look past the nose on your face, I'm beggin' you please, hear my pleas
My nightmares roll over into daymares, you get to look forward to your dreams
©2023
Dec 20, 2023
Dec 20, 2023 at 6:10 PM UTC
I see your inside outside
smiling at me
topography of your personality
May 8, 2022
May 8, 2022 at 6:18 PM UTC
You live on "borrowed time"
At least that is the story you say
If that actually is true
Can you explain the delay?
Knowing how fake you are
Sure it's just a lie
Many of your words are ********
Surprised you are not covered in flies
Uncertain how you got to this point
Was a time where you once stood tall
What I mean;
You had a reason to
Still do with no reason at all
I guess along journey you changed
The person that I see
Became a perfect example
Example of who NOT to be
You tread upon backs of others
In order to get what you want
Even if that means inflicting pain
You do not mind being a ****
Not thinking about future
Solely focused on present thrill
Feeding on people's energy
Seem to never get your fill
I suspect you are miserable inside
That's why you tear others in two
Only way to ease your suffering
Make everyone as unhappy as you
But never seem to shed a tear
Wear a permanent grin
I believe it's because you are striving so hard
Concealing the agony within
Broken so many ways
Have a house but it's not home
Without family to return to
Probably easier to roam
A steady rotation of bodies
Little boys avidly chasing your tail
Your company isn't free
Because pussy's for sale
Thrown like a football
Highest bidder gets the pass
You get bored-no problem
There is always greener grass
Your life rests in ruins
Lost so many parts
Kids
Friends
And reputation
Vanished like your heart
Falling apart a piece at a time
Pretending to keep together
We both know you can't maintain
Perfect charade forever
Your youthful beauty all but dead
Wear so much paint on your face
Entire cosmetics section of Walmart
Stuffed into your makeup case
I see beneath false advertisement
True colors bleed right through
Under skin is grey and black
Soul the ghastliest hue
Reflected in statements you make
Sound either insane or idiotic
Unsure if you are playing stupid
Or you are truly that psychotic
It appears you hurt those around you
Because you can
As if you don't have enough suitors
Steal another woman's man
Your cruelty clearly defined
At least it is from my point of view
Fool everyone else surrounding
A persona that isn't true
But karma will catch up in the end
Hope you're destined to be alone
I feel that is what you deserve
Frozen straight to bone
It's never too late to turn over a new leaf
Begin treating people right
You have to want improvement
Fear for you it's out of sight
Content with road you're walking
Not knowing where it leads
Flesh poked with needles
Uncaring it bleeds
Darkness swallowing you whole
Don't seem to be aware
It's strangling the last bit of goodness
Within remaining there
I do not understand how you can glance
In mirror and not feel disgust
All the disappointment you've caused
Lost a lot more than just trust
Next time you drag name through the mud
Make sure own hands are clean
You have more sins in your book
Than a ***** magazine
If expecting us to back down
In for quite a surprise
Soon as we go toe-to-toe
I will cut you down to size
So better watch your mouth
If the plan is to avoid confrontation
Free to do and say whatever you please
I warn you - there will be retaliation
Apr 22, 2022
Apr 22, 2022 at 2:51 AM UTC
On the hill Golgotha
there, planted, was a tree,
Soaking up a Man's life blood
The blood that made us free.
It was planted by the Man
In the hill, a wooden stake
He had to drag it halfway up
His life it would then take.
A horror to be witnessed
By a roaring crowd
Round "The Skull" they cursed the man
Their hatred was his shroud.
But the man said nothing
Though everything He heard.
He heard all the cursing
But he said not a word.
He laid down his arms and legs
Quietly on the cross
He fully knew all pain He'd feel
Aware of the full cost.
A crown of thorns upon His head
Blood and sweat were in His eyes
He drank vinegar and gall
While he heard the cursing cries.
There were two other men on trees
Who went to die up there
One met the Man in Paradise
The other met despair.
The Man beat Satan on that day
Beat him at his game!
He tore the Veil twixt us and God
Jesus was His name.
Christ died that you and I might live
Yes, He died for you and me!
He laid down his life that day
On "The Skull" and the tree.
SoulSurvivor
Write of Passage
2022
Apr 15, 2022
Apr 15, 2022 at 5:51 PM UTC
pale sickness
you're white as a sheet
draining illness
your clammy white skin
rots
deathly light
the diseased white sun will bleach your bones
after the doves pick them clean
sickly white
your cracked teeth clatter out of your skull
dominos in a dead white jar
trembling hands the color of spoiling milk
carefully cradle an almost translucent infant
mother and child
both far too weak to feed
the only thing that grows here is decay
white mold thrives on your hoarded white bread
while outside the safety of the white picket fence
there is not a single soul who does not
recognize the white of an unburied skeleton
under a full moon
Jan 29, 2022
Jan 29, 2022 at 6:44 PM UTC
I am a terrible person for what I know I have to do
But I am only human and deserve to be happy too
I am used to depression
It's been a long time friend
But as long as we are together it surely won't end
Not because you abuse my body or my feelings
But because you aren't helping the **** with which I'm dealing
You may be sweet but you make me feel sour
Quiet because it is easier to cower
Than to pick a fight that is impossible to win
Aggravation works it's way further under my skin
You are supposed to have my back
Clearly you do not
You throw me under the bus without a second thought
I wish I would have waited before rushing in headfirst
It seems with bad judgement I am hopelessly cursed
An impatient creature
Now both are paying the price
Because I am too foolish to stop and think twice
I know you will be angry
You have every right to be
But I have faith that in the future you will see
That this decision really is for the best
It only gets harder the more time we invest
I know deep cuts now are engraved on your soul
It wasn't my intention to carve out a hole
But attraction has slowly shifted to dismay
"I love you" is a phrase that toward you I'll never say
The way I looked at you changed after our first fight
And has only grown worse since that night
I held on hoping situation would improve
And one day of your actions I'd actually approve
But our relationship dies a little bit more
Each time you do something that I deplore
My eyes are finally open to who you really are
Too bad to see it took getting this far
This whole time I've held on wishfully thinking
It will get better but problems aren't shrinking
I'm ready for this to be over
Yearn to be free
Keeping your emotions safe is mentally draining me
A grave is already dug now it is time to lay to rest
The remains of our romance
Suffered cardiac arrest
You can yell if you want to or call me names
Whatever it takes to break these heavy chains
I have bottled up the truth for far too long
Pretending it might work despite it feeling wrong
I ignored my instinct in fear of loneliness
But these gnawing doubts have gotten too large to repress
Obnoxious ocurrences are a routine indication
Of our incompatibility
Leading to irritation
It seems we are both holding the other down
Not only do you not make me smile
You widen my frown
I am fully aware I frustrate you as well
Without saying one word by your expression I can tell
I don't want to be the source of your despair
But the weight of commitment has become too much to bear
I have wanted to cry out loud but kept my mouth closed
But these silenced concerns beg to be exposed
I think the moment is past overdue for you to hear
The honest thoughts crowding my skull no matter how severe
I apologize for hurting you
Hope you believe it wasn't my plan
I would stick it out awhile longer but am not sure that I can
Jul 18, 2021
Jul 18, 2021 at 7:41 AM UTC
Yesterday's heroes
neoteric delinquents
the Grateful dead.
Jun 21, 2021
Jun 21, 2021 at 12:25 PM UTC
i’ve been told once before
that when you stare into the Darkness
it begins to stare back at you
until i visited
your grave
i never believed Them
i sat and stared
at the nameless headstone
callously placed amongst the shadows
and i mourned
my tears falling delicately
on the loose soil that concealed what was left of you
until i held your hollow lifeless Skull
in my trembling fragile hands
and met your tender gaze
Feb 9, 2021
Feb 9, 2021 at 10:20 AM UTC
random thoughts bouncing
inside my skull i'm writing
what they tell me to
Feb 7, 2021
Feb 7, 2021 at 8:53 PM UTC
my brain is full
ideas for poems
rebound off of my skull
i can't think anymore
bye
Jan 20, 2021
Jan 20, 2021 at 11:03 PM UTC
ON LOOKING AT SCHILLER’S SKULL
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Here in this charnel-house full of bleaching bones,
like yesteryear’s
fading souvenirs,
I see the skulls arranged in strange ordered rows.
Who knows whose owners might have beheaded peers,
packed tightly here
despite once repellent hate?
Here weaponless, they stand, in this gentled state.
These arms and hands, they once were so delicate!
How articulately
they moved! Ah me!
What athletes once paced about on these padded feet?
Still there’s no hope of rest for you, lost souls!
Deprived of graves,
forced here like slaves
to occupy this overworld, unlamented ghouls!
Now who’s to know who loved one orb here detained?
Except for me;
reader, hear my plea:
I know the grandeur of the mind it contained!
Yes, and I know the impulse true love would stir
here, where I stand
in this alien land
surrounded by these husks, like a treasurer!
Even in this cold,
in this dust and mould
I am startled by an a strange, ancient reverie, …
as if this shrine to death could quicken me!
One shape out of the past keeps calling me
with its mystery!
Still retaining its former angelic grace!
And at that ecstatic sight, I am back at sea ...
Swept by that current to where immortals race.
O secret vessel, you
gave Life its truth.
It falls on me now to recall your expressive face.
I turn away, abashed here by what I see:
this mould was worth
more than all the earth.
Let me breathe fresh air and let my wild thoughts run free!
What is there better in this dark Life than he
who gives us a sense of man’s divinity,
of his place in the universe?
A man who’s both flesh and spirit—living verse!
Keywords/Tags: Goethe, Schiller, skull, bones, charnel, house, grave, souls, ghosts, spirit, flesh, death, shrine, divinity, universe
Sep 25, 2020
Sep 25, 2020 at 4:02 AM UTC
hold the match under your chin
unscrew your skull
and pack the kindling in
then strike a flame
inhale the light
your mind will burn so long and bright
Sep 12, 2020
Sep 12, 2020 at 2:21 PM UTC
A swollen sun descends upon us.
small children at play with painted faces.
time is not an endless tick, one and then another
(the plague nearest our dwelling)
but a single broad and present moment stretching
out and on forever.
sometimes i feel my heart will burst
scattered about, then gathered up in a world of rag and bone.
seeds for the great harvest are but a payment for a
karmic debt -
a purple heart sacrifice of my broken hand -
a slice from stem to stern.
my eyes they sink into my head.
the world is a deep grey beneath the deep stars.
the constant chatter in the skull -
a fallen angel named Moroni.
my sunken eyes watch me lift the bad hand
the heathen of my good intentions -
the purple heart of a bad apostle
the shackles of my station
the facing of certain destruction within the grim Hallway of Anubis.
a single moment stretching on forever and a balancing of the heart.
a swollen sun descends upon the third circle of Hell - a place where I no longer live.
Aug 2, 2020
Aug 2, 2020 at 10:34 AM UTC
Numbed & dumbed
Into a void of oblivion
So far beyond the grasp of reality
My face is not my face but a doormat
Numbed & dumbed
A skull left to frighten
Watching you dance through little mirrors stuck in the eye socket
Peering, admiring
But who, admires who more?
But the skeleton, oh he stares, stares right back at you
With eyes crooning and booing
And me boohooing
The crowds tough
Jun 6, 2020
Jun 6, 2020 at 3:30 PM UTC
Mine eyes heavy
Twins aching in the skull
Indeed pretty
Yet of exhaustion they are full
Apr 30, 2020
Apr 30, 2020 at 3:52 PM UTC
At the end of it all, what were we trading for?
A brain inside our skull, spending it for muck!
Mar 17, 2020
Mar 17, 2020 at 4:43 PM UTC
Feeling cold,
Feeling dead,
With nothing else but dirt beneath my head.
You fill my ground with seeds,
This was all that my world would need.
Slowly I feel them tangle,
Their roots start to mingle.
Flowers bloom and grow from my skull,
Further resting me in a peaceful lull.
Sunflowers, daisies and tulip buds,
Lay all around me brightening the mud.
Slowly, slowly my ground is beautiful once again.
Slowly, slowly my body is repaired,
But yet I am still questioning the when?
Wanting to live again just like them.
Jul 13, 2019
Jul 13, 2019 at 4:34 AM UTC
i burned into myself a way to remember your laugh
flushed cheeks that raised flags red to your eyebrows
skimmed over in the heat of thinking "this is it"
and it was
nothing more than the sounds of joy for milliseconds
that echoed for years in one's head
it was like the sea had flooded my cranial cavity
i was drowning cerebrally
Apr 4, 2019
Apr 4, 2019 at 5:42 PM UTC