Howard Firkin
For Charlotte
The dry stone wall is built of many rocks,
none uniform and none the same, their shape
dictates position in the final wallscape,
but not utility—each is a block
that shapes the choice and function of the next.
This wasted time in Denver is one stone,
one pebble in a wall that reaches back
beyond first memories to somewhere black,
beyond forgetting and beyond the known,
but beautiful as hieroglyphic text.
My little one, whatever your life builds—
a wall, a garden, house, a book, a song—
don't doubt your life makes you uniquely skilled
to build it. Never doubt. Be always strong.
none uniform and none the same, their shape
dictates position in the final wallscape,
but not utility—each is a block
that shapes the choice and function of the next.
This wasted time in Denver is one stone,
one pebble in a wall that reaches back
beyond first memories to somewhere black,
beyond forgetting and beyond the known,
but beautiful as hieroglyphic text.
My little one, whatever your life builds—
a wall, a garden, house, a book, a song—
don't doubt your life makes you uniquely skilled
to build it. Never doubt. Be always strong.