A Night in the Royal Ontario Museum
Who locked me
into this crazed man-made
stone brain
where the weathered
totem pole jabs a blunt
finger at the byzantine
mosaic dome
stone brain
where the weathered
totem pole jabs a blunt
finger at the byzantine
mosaic dome
Under that ornate
golden cranium I wander
among fragments of gods, tarnished
coins, embalmed gestures
chronologically arranged,
looking for the EXIT sign
golden cranium I wander
among fragments of gods, tarnished
coins, embalmed gestures
chronologically arranged,
looking for the EXIT sign
but in spite of the diagrams
at every corner, labeled
in red: YOU ARE HERE
the labyrinth holds me,
at every corner, labeled
in red: YOU ARE HERE
the labyrinth holds me,
turning me around
the cafeteria, the washrooms,
a spiral through marble
Greece & Rome, the bronze
horses of China
the cafeteria, the washrooms,
a spiral through marble
Greece & Rome, the bronze
horses of China
then past the carved masks, wood and fur
to where 5 plaster Indians
in a glass case
squat near a dusty fire
to where 5 plaster Indians
in a glass case
squat near a dusty fire
and further, confronting me
with a skeleton child, preserved
in the desert air, curled
beside a clay pot and a few beads.
with a skeleton child, preserved
in the desert air, curled
beside a clay pot and a few beads.
I say I am far
enough, stop here please
no more
enough, stop here please
no more
but the perverse museum, corridor
by corridor, an idiot
voice jogged by a pushed
button, repeats its memories
by corridor, an idiot
voice jogged by a pushed
button, repeats its memories
and I am dragged to the mind’s
dead end, the roar of the bone-
yard. I am lost
among the mastodons
dead end, the roar of the bone-
yard. I am lost
among the mastodons
and beyond: a fossil
shell, then
shell, then
samples of rocks
and minerals, even the thundering
tusks dwindling to pinpoints in the stellar
fluorescent-lighted
wastes of geology
and minerals, even the thundering
tusks dwindling to pinpoints in the stellar
fluorescent-lighted
wastes of geology