Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Marble muse

Carver loved her before she’d shed the last
eighth-inch of measured marble, when she
was still a blurred cousin of the plaster
posed in quarter-scale beside her knee.

Her left hand offered him the skylight,
her right the rubble scattered on the floor;
her gaze, declining from heroic height,
became an invitation to adore.

Smoke streaked the pointed frost-gray
as the edge searched out her real skin,
chirping the last layer of gauze away
to reveal the flawless being poised within.

Smoothed, she gloried in her Belgian black,
gleamed under the circular slow strokes
of pumice and oil, stood in herself, exact,
monumental, realized. And spoke:

“Get rid of that one there. Impertinent scut.”
Carver, mute, understood stone
for the first time as his heart slammed shut.
The creature didn’t know it was alone.

“And get this place cleaned up, you filthy man.
Get a haircut. Shave. Show some spark.”
Carver lay at her feet, beyond command.
She chittered like a grackle in the dark.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Nice words, Poet.

John said...

Nice Minx, thank you.

Unknown said...

"chittered like a grackle"

Now there's words you don't see every day. Welcome to the blogosphere John.

This really reminded me of Schama's enthusiasm for Bernini's sculptures in Rome. You've got under the skin of the statue very nicely!

Debi said...

At last! Well worth the wait ...

Roberta said...

My God. This astounds me. What a great piece! You claim in the third person, an intimate act of dominance and submission...Terrific!

Anonymous said...

Welcome Poet,
Our private climate gives us pause to wonder
At how ancient we've become, how soon.

Unknown said...

I still adore this x x x