Point Spread

The skull in the box is that of Cornelius A. Burleigh, the first man to be hanged in London, Ontario, August 19, 1830. The public hanging attracted an audience of over 3,000 when the village of London numbered only a few hundred. Because the rope broke, he was hanged twice! The top of the skull was taken on a world tour by Dr. O.S. Fowler, a phrenologist.         This part of the skull was presented to the Harris family.         (Eldon House brochure)         Off memory         & a dare,         the grave man         coming to a bitter end.         Burleigh, top of his         skull reminiscent of a laundry cup         (or toothpaste cap) separated from         its yellowing, rightful owner.         No jaws of life here -         rather vengeance beyond death,         shellac & varnish twist shoved         to the withering bone.         Phrenology,         sinister "fin de siecle" fingering         of the intellect's character         through guru-dimensions of the head,         (pseudo-savant/skulduggery clairvoyant).         Thimble-full thinker, sleight of hand         smoke'n mirror trophy hunters         boisterous crowd in a         "hanging mood". Coins         flip on the outcome         while town drunks reel;         The village idiot getting         into the "swing" of things. Point spread         across the yawn         of death ...         brittle behaviour,         the sharp edge of beetles         clicking in the dark.         And I thought         of institutionalized evil         & rabid passion for revenge         pursued beyond the final resting place -         most private skeletal remains         held up as curios. Medieval burning of a heretic's bones,         manure pile for those decried damned;         the cross-roads         drive your cart over the         bones of the dead,         the remembered suicide's end.         Not so strange         given human nature,         Lord Byron's silver drinking cup         runaway Ethiopian slave         (twisted paean to romance)         or Hand of Glory,         corpse-fresh from the gibbet &         famed forges of France.         Hair strands as in under         a magnifying glass, then         shards of clothing/clods of earth         covering a shovel.         The autopsy-necromancy         Nazi intrigue,         playing polo with your         opponent's skull          - Carl Sagan's Broca's Brain         red-bearded decapitation         floating in a cloud of formaldehyde;         sale of skeletons/white slavery         filthy lucre all in one utilitarian         lust for cadavers ... .         Robber-birds pinioning their prey ...         Mania to collect         mania to re-collect,         shadow-boxing logic         rattle his bones         he's only a pauper         whom nobody owns.