Ode: To The Skull

There’s a purpose for an opposable thumb

a thumbnail shaped to scrape 

marrow from bone 

brain from skull

A hemispherical skull shaped that way

to allow a brain to work at speed

neurons signaling neurons

recognition in an instant

fight or flee

Coordinated by our brains

let’s tip our hat to the skull

take thumb and forefinger to its brim

manipulate our limbs

which crawled once 

but now can stand akimbo

there’s a purpose in design

Take the iconic Cray-1

made cylindrical to shorten its wires

because Seymour measured each wire’s flight

by the speed of light

just like in the brain the shortest path

Is inside a sphere

or hemisphere.

Dick Russell © Richard M Russell

                   2024