Variations on a Millstone #1
George Nocuchi 1962
gray granite and artist’s wood/painted steel
Forever holding up the stones
are we not all
forever holding memories
that we do not release
until the time of death ,sweet, death-
do we carry them beyond
2) There is the woman whom we always
see walking away
whether she walks away from us
or was never with us
to walk away from
is immaterial and irrelevant
and our objections were never even heard
certainly not sustained
what is relevant is that we carry
her image with us forever
as the one unattainable
or unreattainable Celeste
that would of meant true ecstasy-
we know we are guilty of dreamery
but we have certainly been convicted for less
of less
and have done more
with much less conviction
and have done more
much more deserving
of conviction
3) Then there is the High School moment
maybe it was College
maybe early workplace
maybe a day in the street
a night in the bar
where a stand could of been taken
and one sat and thought instead
not finding the exact right combination of words
of phrases, of artfully constructed-
and you did not react to talk of war
of “blacks getting everything”
of “immigrants spoiling America”
of the real problem being gay marriage
as long as gays don’t get married,
we will have high paying jobs and
full medical and all our wives will love us
and all our teams will win-
4) Maybe it’s only the words
unwrit, the paper not spoiled by paint,
the guitar unplucked, the clay unshaped, the song unsung-
so death years later
the mights have not been
though the nights have been
the possibilities are now ended
and we need assistment with our living
dreams lie in past
the schedule is only meals
none of us will ever be famous!
but, like I told my daughter,
we won’t be carrying that millstone
up yon mountain
for the what we didn’t do.
Bob Small 4-22-05
not revised but reviewed
robertthesmall 