Vessel
Bilingual vessel,
late Archaic;
a woman the colour
of clay looks out
across the vessel’s
sintered black:
in all that dark water, never a bright sail.
Au verso, this
same woman, now
in silhouette,
looks out across
the vessel’s ground,
unsintered red:
in all that bright water, never a black ship.
Pour out the water.
From the vantage
of the vase painter,
the distant traveller,
this momentary column
holds you up.