Some Treasures

Dire one and desired one,
Savior, sentencer -

In an old allegory you would carry
A chained alphabet of tokens:

Ankh Badge Cross.
Dragon,
Engraved figure guarding a hallowed intaglio,
Jasper kinema of legendary Mind,
Naked omphalos pierced
By quills of rhyme or sense, torah-like: unborn
Vein of will, xenophile
Yearning out of Zero...


Here are some little treasures -
A sheep skull, literally coming apart at the seams, that I found in a pasture at Villa del Re. "Our kids grew up surrounded by death," Big John told me.
A trolley token given to me at a bus stop by an old man who claimed to have been the first African-American trolley driver in Annapolis.
A seashell from my former supervisor, picked up by her daughter on a beach in Mexico.
An 1812 copy of Isaac Watts' Psalms of David, given to me by Kim for my birthday.
A glazed porcelain bowl from Bavaria, another gift from John, the words "US Occupied Zone" stamped underneath the maker's mark.


A tiny clay pot from Sky City, the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico where John spent time as a boy.
A drop of congealed candle wax collected from the dirt floor of a makeshift Vodou temple at the end of an hours-long ceremony in Washington, D.C.
A sugar death's-head, decorated with beads and spangles, which Kim made for Dia de los Muertos some years ago.
An origami crane made by Carly, one-thousandth of the senbazuru of Sadako Sasaki: "I will write peace on your wings and you will fly all over the world."


A dried cone from the magnolia tree that grows over B.F. White's grave.
A piece of lava that Rachel brought back from Iceland.
A small figure of Avalokitesvara, Regarder of the Cries of the World, protected by a dragon. I don't remember where I got it. I gave it to Kim as a talisman over 15 years ago.
A yarmulke from Jason's father's memorial service.


...Absence,
Or presence ever at play:
Let those scorn you who never
Starved in your dearth. If I
Dare to disparage
Your harp of shadows I taste
Wormwood and motor oil, I pour
Ashes on my head. You are the wound. You
Be the medicine.

- Robert Pinsky, from 'Ode to Meaning'