Bloody scary skull

Once upon a time
there was a bloody, scary skull

On the first day of school, the bloody, scary skull
went into class, and all the children ran from it
No one wanted to be its friend
No one wanted to sit by it at lunch
No one wanted to play with it at recess

The bloody, scary skull felt sad and lonely
It cried and was very angry

this went on for many years
Sometimes, the bloody, scary skull barely spoke
from summer to winter and back to summer again
no one asked "how are you"
no one said "hello"
 
The bloody scary skull had heard rumors
that college would be better
that in the city there were like-minded people
to make firends with and share your thoughts with

that sounded beautiful...so so beautiful

When it was fifteen, the bloody scary skull
went off to college
got a job in research science
made discoveries and published important papers
participated in poetry readings

and yet

No one wanted to sit by it at lunch
no one wanted to be its friend
no one said "hello"
and by this time
the bloody, scary skull had no idea
how it would respond if they did

Three years and three college transfers later
The bloody, scary skull set off to see the world

It went to the arctic and the himalayas
high deserts and rocky seashores
and forests without end

it went to Paris and London
Stockholm and Amsterdam
Shambala and Samarkand
Dublin and Galway
Chicago and Tucson
Las Vegas and Istanbul

But they were empty, and no one was there to be friends
with a bloody, scary skull

The Skull felt sad and lonely
It cried and was very angry
and three more years were gone

Finally one day the skull met a friend
and was never quite so lonely after that