The Vessel I Have Yet to Center

The Vessel I Have Yet to Center

I sculpt through life like an artist

whose medium is clay.
My mind’s contents are spilled
into art but have never been
put out on display.

I wedge the mud still spinning,
it’s the question I have yet to face.
It’s a vessel I have
yet to center, let alone shape,
let alone create.

The slip drips and glaze runs,
mud folds and earth cracks,
but clay is my forgiving friend,
I’ll reuse each part that I fold and bend.

It will live and die like the first iris
in a bouquet to bloom;
I’ll reuse its purple petals,
turn them into sweet perfume.

It's abandoned beeswax dripped
to form a light, an art
that works, its flame becomes a
glowing dance at night.

A master does not do things once.
The vessel I am so eager to behold
is hiding, and can only be found within
the act of finding.

By: Natalia Martinez (Summer 2021)