Poetry

Curio


Curio

for Lance and Andi Olsen
Cabinet of Curiosities,
ME Collector’s Room, Berlin

 
The penis is the miniature of the man, ergo
Death’s head lies beneath the skin
Now fallen away—so this figure
Shows us, its logic impeccably forged

And wrought in silver. When have I seen
A body in such flagrante delicto, no longer
Naked in the flesh but rather
Out of it. This is the one

I fail to photograph but keep remembering
Among skeletons twined with serpents
Winding orifices and sockets, the skull
Peering out behind a face un-

Suspecting of the grin beneath
That oh-so-curious, so serious mouth.