Of Flesh and Stone
To be a statue, unchanging and unfeeling
Would, at least by some measures, be a relief.
To be unconcerned with the changes of the times,
Or the weather, or the fashions of the age.
If I were a statue, and viewed to be cold,
It is all that could be expected of me.
You can't get blood from a stone, nor tears from bronze.
And you cannot get a breath from me.
If I am not viewed favorably, he who hewn my visage
May shake his head and sigh,
And set upon his latest vision with hammer and chisel,
And forget that I, his failure, still stand in town square.
Birds may land on me; children may climb on me.
Vandals may scrawl their names on me with paint.
Tourists may use me as a landmark,
And yet will I stand, unscathed by indignity.
Without a viewer, a statue is not a man,
Nor a vision of a man,
But only a chunk of stone or metal,
Created by other hands, for other hearts.
- Paxton Daryl Branson
Comments
It's beautiful, and it makes me sad.