
(C) jcs 2006
Breaking down the ash and rock
existing now just to hinder and trip.
With a pick, with an axe, with a torch —
Laying at the table the practical,
pulling from grey matter fantastical;
switching the spoils from hand to hand,
weighing, comparing, flinging over the fence
little flecks, little specks, the occasional bright bauble
in an effort to winnow, to burrow, and strike.