Cambridge, MA
The pewter lid is threaded,
poised for solstice screwing.
Our light wells empty,
birds abscond with delight.
Common goods gravitate,
stubbles of surnames come to rest
upon a tea tray.
Bibbering dust,
they compete for eternity.
Tooth for tooth, yard by yard,
the tally of church chime all hell-
scar and boil. Puritan snow
forms a spoke-lattice crust.
Yet a pocket watch strikes
silver, just below the surface.
Kathryn Moll is an architect. She lives with her family in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The Mantle 