in the raw material
of inorganic stone

the artist saw not
mineral but animal

strata defined by bands
of color, striated quartz

a lattice of atoms in
agate, or chalcedon

a fantasy of corpulence –
not the actual thing itself

but the body’s carcass
carved & stewed

in its own juices

the Greek bachelor
Pygmalion longed

to breathe being into
modeled marble

no small commitment
to life

nourishing words w/
marrow & meat,

stone skinned alive,
flesh of fatty pork

feeds gray matter
acts upon the heart

served under glass
letter for letter each

gnaw & chew of language
even the herbivore imagines