I
my Carrara marble egg
its perfect ovoid
disguising the sculptor’s failure
to liberate the angel
contained within that block of stone
benign in its insinuation
luminescent in this afternoon’s light
a useful paperweight underselling its promise
with its mate placed in the hutch
to encourage that hen to lay
no amount of brooding
can impart sufficient heat
to cause those eggs to hatch
not enough to stop her trying
II
secrets as subtle as the mason’s handshake
never to lift a block of stone
when easing walking bouncing
will dance it into place just as well
if you don’t leave spaces
you’re just building a wall
I come back to these words
a revenant to cut and slash to fashion sense
an echo where the words once were
all poetry consists of remnants
the art in the spaces as much as what remains