Cup, Basin and Bowl

Cup, basin and bowl,
however tarnished and brightly,
however stealthy the manufacture,
however far the travail,
however fragile the lip,
or sheer the inbound slope — know this,

Take all I am as yours,
a meager thing and ancient,
poured from a brood of stars.
Would any thirst be quenched
but for your shape, as shapely
is the promise held? — know this.

Would any anger quelled
be not quelled in such perfection
as that which passes, unmolested
from age to age and hand to hand,
when neither art nor artifice may
improve on such gracious use as this?

Image: Tom Crew on Unsplash

7 Thoughts

      1. Hi Devon, can’t tell you why this popped into my head on reading your reply but I’ll mention it anyway as it might give you food for thought (poem). “You are never alone with a Strand”
        The Strand cigarette was launched in 1959 but withdrawn in the early 1960s. The launch was accompanied by a huge television advertising campaign with the slogan “You’re never alone with a Strand”. They also ran advertisements in newspapers offering a free pack of Strand cigarettes to readers who filled in a coupon and sent it in. Pictures of a lonely Man standing against a wall smoking was strangely evocative. I know it’s not PC to talk about smoking but, what the hell -since when have poets been PC!

      2. That ad campaign is an interesting story, a beautiful complete flop. Thank you for sharing. It is definitely something thematically worthy of a poem.

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