Blackbird Archive← v12n1, Spring 2013Poetry · Volume 12, Number 1
Archaic Archaic Torso of the Sun God Apollo as a Star Apple, an Oil Lamp, a Broken Mirror
If we’ll never know the beauty of his head,
from which the eyes could see us brilliantly,
we have, at least, the core of what is left
that glows, like candelabra, perfectly.
Otherwise, the cutting angles of the chest
wouldn’t blind us, nor the seminal energy
shine through the heart of where the source
of fire still burns—otherwise, this fragment
of a stone would surely darken under the darker
weight of the shoulders and lose the animal
sheen of being more alive; otherwise, there’d
only be a wounding of the light, instead
of bright on bright, in which each part sees
through you. You must change your life.
