This is not a cow skull.
It’s the fulfillment of a random outrageous request of a teenage son.
It’s an item that caused a young clerk at Staples in a small town a challenge to prepare for shipping across the country.
It’s an item that costed more to ship than to buy.
It’s an item forementioned son wanted nothing to do with when it was presented to him.
This is not an old-fashioned cast iron, claw-footed tub.
It’s a housewarming gift after a fashion from Steve, my ex-boyfriend, Bob’s, brother.
It’s something Steve was given by someone but had no use for.
It’s something Bob filled with a superblend growing mix, then planted strawberries in.
It’s something that gave good berries for years but became clogged with grass.
It’s something being filled with growing mix again in the spring.
This is not a bubble bath the cow skull is languishing in.
It’s a measly amount of snow for mid-January in MI.
It’s something there is too little of to enjoy for sledding or skiing.
It’s not enough to make men who earn money in winter plowing money.
It’s something that isn’t giving county workers an opportunity for overtime.
It’s something where you can see the tracks of visiting critters.
Nor is it a final resting place for an Arizona cow whose skull was one of dozens lining the tent of the roadside souvenir shop.
It’s a place where a part of the cow’s corporeal being has decided to park.
It’s something the lichen, sun, water, and temperature will deconstitute.
It’s a memory holder for disappointment, joy, contentment, sorrow, and regret.
Its presence helps me process a little of these memories when I pass it, even if only a teensy bit.
It’s something that now makes me wonder why I keep visiting this cache?
Mish is today’s host for dVerse‘ Poetics. Mish says:
Choose an object from your home or outdoors. Look past the obvious characteristics and uses of this object. Spare us the details. Instead, take us to the connection that it has made with you or what it represents.
Tao Talk 
What a bizarre yet poetically wonderful monument! No wonder you are fascinated by it; it seems to tell a thousand tales…
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Ingrid, thank you!
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Excellent. Each “not” a segue to the next, and all tied together. Something tells me you did not need to pose this photograph – it was there in its natural state.
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Thank you, Ron. Exactly right. It’s been like this for awhile…
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great poem about a great collection of memories.
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Thank you very much.
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This is so cool! Both your poem and the tub. I’d love to have something like this in my backyard. It’s art with an amaziing story.! Thanks for sharing this Lisa. Good writing!
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So glad you enjoy the art installation. I’m kind of partial to it myself 🙂
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You are so skilled at all these challenges, Lisa! 🌞
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I have a lot of fun doing them, thanks Lisa!
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A tub full of memories, some good and some not so good, revisited each time it’s passed. Great write.
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Thanks Bev, just so.
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Great poetry … smiles and a few giggles from me!!
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ha ha! So glad you enjoyed it Helen 🙂
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What a wonderfully strange image and intriguing spill of words this is! I loved the progression of this. Isn’t it funny how objects attach themselves to us, and to our hearts?
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Glad you like them, De. Yes it is. How I got stuck with the skull is a mystery!
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I love your sense of humor in your poetry… This is great! Love the cow head in the tub. I was glad it wasn’t some cult shrine you were experiencing!! I can just see the Staples person saying, what in the world is this… and what am I supposed to do with it!! It made me smile!
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Oh it was a learning experience for sure. When I bought it at the place they offered to ship it and quoted a price. Being stubborn and thinking oh I can do it much cheaper somewhere else, I turned them down. Yes that poor clerk at Staples! Thanks Dwight 🙂
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:>)
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I LOVE your sense of humor! You’ve rocked the prompt, Lisa. Giving us a peek into your life 🙂
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Jay, thanks much. It can be a real interesting time around these-here parts 🙂
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I’ve no doubts about that! You’re welcome (^_^)
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So well done Li
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Sadje, thank you!
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You’re welcome 😉
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What a great prompter of stories, this bathtub and contents!!
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Yes it is!
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Oh, the objects that clutter and enrich our lives and our memories!
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Well said!
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I love those kind of tubs. That looks really cool
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Thank you!
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One day I will own one…
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You can have this one but you have to pay for the shipping 😉
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Lol… I can’t imagine the shipping!
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p.s. just kidding! Homer has his home here.
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I love how you managed to give this poem a humorous air, while writing about real life. Why on earth didn’t your son want the cow skull? It’s pretty cool!
❤
David
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When he rejected it and I said, “this is what you asked for!” he said, “I was just kidding, mom!”
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Woah, wonderful and deep creativity. You definitely aced the challenge.
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Jude, many thanks 🙂
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Proving there is a home and new life for all of our cast-offs and mistakes…we just need to make it happen. Wonderful! (K)
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Kerfe, I love your take on this. Thank you so much for your view.
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This has to be my favourite poem of yours, Lisa! It has totally broadsided me with the dead-pan humour, the glimpses into your life, and the bizarre things that you have in your garden. I love the way you broke the image down, gave us the parts and summed them up. It made me smile. By the way, we used to have a large animal skull in a tree in our garden, left over from the artist who used to live here, but it disappeared a few years ago.
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ha ha! Kim, so glad you like it. 🙂 Truth is always stranger and more delightful than fiction I’ve realized.
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I love all the things it is and is not. You wove a wonderful story and I love your imagination… “This is not a bubble bath the cow skull is languishing in.” Well Done
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Many thanks, Debi, glad you enjoyed it 🙂
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I can see the day coming when this heap of memories is going to be abandoned as a pile of junk. It happens 🙂
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🙂
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This is not a predictable response to the prompt! You rocked it. Love the the way you traveled a poetic journey of “nots” and “is- es” The approach was so entertaining I was sad for it to end. I adore anything that reminds me of my husband’s origin of New Mexico. This guy looks rather funky in that tub though!
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Delighted you enjoyed the tale, Mish. Hey don’t you know it’s modern art. I personally love it. I’ll try to remember to take one when stuff is planted in there this summer.
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Oh I LOVE whimsical art especially in gardens and try to create a bit of that. I think he just looks rather cold at the moment……to the bone. Haha
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🙂
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I do love all the stories it can tell… and it’s not even the cow’s story… maybe there is a meatloaf still in a freezer somewhere.
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You just never know! Great comment, Bjorn. Hope your house cleaning is discovering some stories to share with us.
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