The Skeleton
Jiggly-jaggly bones
shaking as he moves along,
perambulating these halls
as if he could belong…
*click photo to enlarge
poem © Annie Neugebauer
2011. All rights reserved.
art © Andie Wolf
2012. All rights reserved.
Annie is a novelist, blogger, nationally award-winning poet, and two-time Bram Stoker Award-nominated short story author. Her debut collection, You Have to Let them Bleed, and her debut novella, The Extra, are both set for publication in 2025.
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Coming 9/9/25. Preorder now! -
Coming in 2025. Preorder now!
What a cool poem — and I love the skeleton artwork. I really enjoyed reading the intro behind the scenes about the poem and art, too! What a great idea!
Thanks Julia!
Beautiful poem and beautiful artwork! 😀
Thankya ma’am!
Love it! You cracked me up with your explanation and two-part organization. But it worked: the art and poem go so well together! LOVE the drawing. Love it. Your idea fits in with something I wanted to get posted on my blog today (which hasn’t happened): photos of spooky desert things I’ve seen — and even the ‘imagined’ spooky things I’ve seen in seemingly harmless photos I’ve snapped (think of cloud gazing and seeing the unseen in the clouds, only in saguaros, the dirt, etc). Still may do it!
Hehe, thanks Melissa!
That post sounds awesome! I’m working on a links round-up for Halloween/October, so if you put that up it’ll probably fit in there.
Annie, I really enjoyed this! The artwork is wonderful and really does emphasize all the movement in your poem. “Fright on!” 😀
Thank you Carole! Yes, the movement is one of the things I love about Andie’s art. He really does look jiggly-jaggly, doesn’t he? =)
Major props for use of “perambulate,” an awesome word I’ve probably never used in my life. I also love how much is packed into those four lines, especially that last one.
And is there perhaps a poem for “Dripping Horn”? 😉
Ha! So true. Thanks Lura. My use of “perambulate” here was actually inspired by the old, old gothic trope of “the perambulating skeleton.”
And a poem for “Dripping Horn”… I love it. Mhm, mhm. *makes mental note*
What an absolutely incredible picture to go with a great little poem!!! It’s as if the artist got into your head:) Kudos to you both!
I totally agree! Thanks!
The picture is perfect! Love the poem. Great idea to repost when link goes dead.
Thanks Nina!