Above the chirping of dead birds,
Where no one seems to go,
Under low lights like Thomas Kincaid
Sits the Mermaid skull
As well as a shell,
A bench,
A fur and a
Pinecone.

Past the last photo of The Man Who Walks With Bears
Lies the stand with the giant clam
And a tiny unborn egg.
Nothing stands at its right height,
Like one-tenth of a story,
Except a sideways mummy pigeon
Cool as fuck.

“Oddities and Curiosities of Nature” can be seen at the Bell Museum until January 4.