A Martian’s-Eye View of the Pietà 
  
I scrutinize the shape and sense the ache 
Of humans huddled round the marble scene – 
Frozen folds of liquid light that break 
The laws of matter with a lunar sheen. 
An alabaster softness cradles death. 
Hands carved from rock are animate and warm. 
Beneath the stony surface there’s a breath 
That flickers like a star as meanings form. 
I register the ruin of a son, 
Grown, yet small enough for Mother’s arms 
That bear with poise a planet come undone 
In smoothly chiseled grace that pains and charms. 
I’m swept up in a surge I cannot name – 
A cosmic force no mortal end will claim. 

Susan Jarvis Bryant

If you have any thoughts about this poem,   Susan Jarvis Bryant would like to hear them.