Hers is a basket. Draw the basin first,
then draw the outside bowl, and then the weave
of lattice, then the handle, far emersed,
then shade the hollow, then don’t touch it. Leave.
Too much for this one takes the truth away
from what it represents. Though intricate,
perhaps, more than the others, this should say
a simple thing, and plainly it should set.
She didn’t want too much. She yearned to share,
and giving her too much would make her sad.
So leave it—leave it basic, humble, bare
of detail. Meek as the heart that she had.
And that shall live for her. And those who see
will feel the softness that she strove to be.
~~~
This one’s a shield, and you can make it broad
or thin, or worn or shining as the Sun.
The only feature that this one must laud
is a triumphant chief: a pointed one.
For he was a triumphant knight indeed,
who never failed to live up to his mark,
even the countenance of every steed
he ever rode would, to his valor, hark.
I knew this one myself. And I can say
that you will never know another man
to be as virtuous, whate’er the day
would bring him, nor where’er his day began.
Yes, more should know him. Maybe, if they did,
good works would shine—and fewer sins be hid.