Anthropodermically Bound

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.