The Carved Head
Her Masai profile sculpted from ebony,
forehead scarred from a fall into some packing crate;
a present from an Uncle, a souvenir
from a past he wished to clear away,
part of the debris of his failed marriage,
but her lips keep silence, somehow graceful.
I’ve always liked her in an unthinking way:
a comforting weight in my luggage,
the heavy wood a perfect bookend,
her presence on a shelf or sideboard
transforming anonymous rooms into homes.
You accepted her presence immediately,
matching it with paintings, rugs and tapestries.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that the psychic
you saw from curiosity should detect her.
He said she missed foliage, craved greenery
so we traipsed in a jungle of aspidistras.
Page(s) 41
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