Saint Paul, 10 April 2006
No matter how deep you go down the rabbit hole,
it's always going to be God and Lightning.
~ Garry Smith
All that's acknowledged remains
Stranded in deposits of white marble
Pneumatic chisels liberate counterfeits
Of Michelangelo's unfinished Dying Slave
Books once bound in human skin
Render your mental biopsy useless
A dust cover matching your DNA
Slain, tanned and dutifully protective
Your commemorative statue already exists
Stationary in a quarry above Pietrasanta
Your reflections once committed to stone
Float belly up in a pool of sculpted koi
However inexplicable our instructions
Inscribed in rocks by God and Lightning
I fear anthropodermically bound books
Might be all that remains of your kin
Notes:
Michelangelo's The Moses and the unfinished Slaves were realized
from Pietrasanta marble.