quizzing glass

To decipher the whispering hieroglyphs

                                                         hung

   In the cold chambers of the time-sullied

                                                         soul—

      Depictions diminished, yet timelessly

                                                         rendered—

Is to rival the lifework of the scholar

                                                         unsung,

   Bespectacled with a quizzing glass, solemn and

                                                         old,

      Never to the mystery of his sphere

                                                         surrendered.

—09.20.1996, revisited