Ode to Mona

I’m missing a card from our deck
One of the queens, I find ironic
I like to think you took it
And it rests, with you
I’ll make sure to bring the rest when it’s my time
So we can have another game
Enjoy our thin wheat crackers
And the planets we treasure in cartoon
Together again, with you

Cubone, the Lonely Pokémon

“Cubone are a tragic species for its female breed. This Pokémon and its evolution are often recognized by the skulls they wear atop their heads, covering the majority of their face save their eyes and nose. These skulls belong to the Cubone’s mother and evolution, Marowak. Female Marowak can but fall ill in the process of breeding offspring, sacrificing much of their life and health to bring new life into the world; medicine and other efforts by mankind have been unsuccessful in prolonging the lives of the species postpartum. Hatched Cubone spend very little time in their mother’s presence before they pass away, and the fathers to their species, male Marowak or otherwise, spend very little time in the picture afterwards. It is believed Cubone wear the skulls and carry the arm bones of their mothers from an inability to process their deaths.”

“As the Cubone gets older they continue to grow into the skull, fitting within its hollow space. They will never take off their mother’s skull, not even when they eat, sleep or clean themselves; in some cases of large Cubone, it is because they’ve become so large that the skulls cannot be safely and simply removed. Any cracks seen beneath the eye sockets are from the tears of the Cubone after many months removed from their mother’s passing. But it is also through this process that Cubone teach themselves to come to terms with their mother’s passing, accepting their once powerlessness to save them and the strength they’ve gained over years surviving on their own in the wild or with others; it seems this is the mental conclusion a Cubone must come to if it ever wishes to evolve into a Marowak itself.”

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