Statuesque

The silence swallows me,
eats me,
digests me,
spits me out
to quiet and no-one

the mountain behind me:
vast
rugged
huge
must be broken down
chunk by chunk
stone by stone
until, in crumbs
like sand in an hourglass
I can empty it
through the small

hole in my heart,
sieve it
through my soul's mesh

until it disappears
in smoke and mirrors -
all the jagged years

like golden-white sand
on the strand
at the end of the world
the conch shell in my
hand the only
real thing - I hear

the sea's roar
echoing

my ship broke up land
as it hit after
the last, worst, storm -
all the black boards
floating on the tide, black
ribs exposed,
all the gashes in its side

empty it lists
a hollowed shell for the winds
cargo all gone
shredded sails

the treasure sits on the beach
in my fine arms

single form
'statue at peace'
creation of the artist
sited alone
in this place

outpost of the civilised
the masses left behind
we walked it through
the open gates
and set it down:

empty woman
alone
statuesque in her bearing
Queen
without a throne
Goddess
all the power within
unseen
eschewed
unknown

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