Cork
Written by Hannah Stephenson on Sunday the 9th of January 2011
Cork
Cork is talented with holes
because it is inlaid with them.
Cork can close them up,
can crawl into a bottle's mouth
and silence the wine
in its throat and belly. Cork
welcomes the nail and pin.
It is good at getting pierced,
at gripping the sharp edge
back. Similarly, we are gifted
in loss. Experiences fall
from us as they happen, baby
teeth, jettisoned potential.
People leave, get shipped off
to other dimensions. Even
memories go away, burn out
like stars. Let us learn from
cork, from our talent for having
things taken away, our
adoration of the irretrievable.