USA

heckman@jlab.org 

What You Did Not See

The subject was the shell, 
intrinsic in a life carved ancient.
You couldn't see the beauty,
the gaping jaw bone
a skeletal masterpiece
swirled 
in a sea of Plesiosaurs.

Only a shell, you said,
a husk of imagination.

Blanched, a frozen hinge at one end,
toothless like a hand puppet.
You knew I ate the salted meat
careful not to disturb its body.
I could paint eyes, nostrils, 
and a green body with flippers. 
You would still only see the pistachio. 

© Copyright 04-16-00,  John Heckman.
All Rights Reserved. Printed By Permission.