poem: Earthenware

Words hit the wheel

Slapped down soil

Grounded centre

Quality tested

Strained as

Spinning out

To impress

But will these mud walls

Hold all

I want to say

Kiln dried and glazed

Hues to please

Consenting eye

But all too brittle

Too small

To contain

Truth’s edge

Baked out earth losing

The voice

Entrusted me

Yet arching forms

Draw me in

To living clay

Beyond the vessel

For love

For freedom

Brokenness

Binds shards in gold

Our tears

Will mould

Our story

First published in The Voices Project: http://www.thevoicesproject.org/poetry-library/earthenware-by-ann-van-wijgerden