The history of silence

Part of a larger poem:

Girls walking in single file

[British Museum, Elgin Collection (Parthenon Marbles) Block VIII (fig. 57-61) East frieze of the Parthenon, ca. 447–433 BC]

I was last, shortest of them all; head and shoulders
excised from time. Hint of fingers, feet just crumbled grit,
a body robed and sexless. Definition found in what we carried,
were allowed to carry. Incense burner, jugs and bowls.
For ceremony or libation or sacrifice.
Not for us, we couldn’t keep our faces, our tongues.
Nothing for us. Stone has become brilliant white, how else to survive?
Even our skin a lie.

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