Fracture (Albert Paley 1996)

Scattered Thoughts:

At base: Broken pieces of a puzzle

Will not fit

Fallen shape

Gathered in a column’s mess

Weathered steel

Shaped

Crafted

Edges smoothed

Carved land by water

Worn

Wayward ways,

Gentle curves and

Breaks—

Alone.

At side: Out stretched eagles wings—soaring—no longer chained to earth

Piercing through thick air—emptiness—there is no sky

Sweeping wind—cloud—howling wolf

There is no moon—star—just this room

By the stairwell—hide—it and I

Alone.

At top: The shadow cast

makes a jagged

clock

ticking at the time

telling, tearing, touching

each moment passing

still

Alone.

Gathered thoughts: Soft brown steel

Hiding to reveal

In corner left,

Bereft,

It stays—

Cobweb plays

Dusts settle

Rusts mettle,

Shadows cast

At long last

Draws my appeal

Alone.