Percival SharpObserve the clasped hands!Are they hands of farewell or greeting,Hands that I helped or hands that helped me?Would it not be well to carve a handWith an inverted thumb, like Elagabalus?And yonder is a broken chain,The weakest-link idea perhaps—But what was it?And lambs, some lying down,Others standing, as if listening to the shepherd—Others bearing a cross, one foot lifted up—Why not chisel a few shambles?And fallen columns!Carve the pedestal, please,Or the foundations; let us see the cause of the fall.And compasses and mathematical instruments,In irony of the under tenants, ignoranceOf determinants and the calculus of variations.And anchors, for those who never sailed.And gates ajar—yes, so they were;You left them open and stray goats entered your garden.And an eye watching like one of the Arimaspi—So did you—with one eye.And angels blowing trumpets—you are heralded—It is your horn and your angel and your family’s estimate.It is all very well, but for myselfI know I stirred certain vibrations in Spoon RiverWhich are my true epitaph, more lasting than stone.
Observe the clasped hands!Are they hands of farewell or greeting,Hands that I helped or hands that helped me?Would it not be well to carve a handWith an inverted thumb, like Elagabalus?And yonder is a broken chain,The weakest-link idea perhaps—But what was it?And lambs, some lying down,Others standing, as if listening to the shepherd—Others bearing a cross, one foot lifted up—Why not chisel a few shambles?And fallen columns!Carve the pedestal, please,Or the foundations; let us see the cause of the fall.And compasses and mathematical instruments,In irony of the under tenants, ignoranceOf determinants and the calculus of variations.And anchors, for those who never sailed.And gates ajar—yes, so they were;You left them open and stray goats entered your garden.And an eye watching like one of the Arimaspi—So did you—with one eye.And angels blowing trumpets—you are heralded—It is your horn and your angel and your family’s estimate.It is all very well, but for myselfI know I stirred certain vibrations in Spoon RiverWhich are my true epitaph, more lasting than stone.