Made of Stee]
I stand
and face the wind
feel its rasp and chap
delineate, it feels for me
caresses all my
frame to find
a weakness
a way in
blasting at my silhouette
in angriness, in vain,
it will not bend
me back, nor hone my edges
down to fine and supine lines -
my steely spine will not give up
its upright character.
No. I am rigidity personified.
Affect my sides
lacerate my tall
rectangularity, but see
I do not even waver
from its manic breathings, howlings,
from its quivering rage. There
is no sign that it
has power to make me sway
or knock me down.
No. I will outlast, outlive, outwait
its will to blow, its malign
determination to
wear me to a shadow
cleanse my angles all to
flat and satisfactory
horizontal.
No. It cannot damage me
nor flake my silver skin but
how cold I am, how frozen
with its blasting, how I
quiver deep within, I suffer
for this space around my head
this lack,
how my
longing is in red, in red.
But obelisk I am
and you look close
before you can
discern my inner pain.
No. I am strong without,
a solid frame concealing
marzipan of soft,
forlorn, but
wear external steel
a fitting skin
so well
that no wind come
inveigle its way in.
previous poem
next poem