Brittle

Bodies arranged on shelves
await their use.

Await owners to lift them up,
hold their curves carefully
as if coddling something precious,
something they cannot drop.

Perhaps a freshly shaped container
ready to be filled with memories,
a fleeting life of flowers or food,
gently burn liquid into perfumed air,
placed particularly on a table
or another shelf as a focus.

Breakable as bone, handle with care
Stationary newborns. Look carefully
along these shelves find two sheep locked
in a gaze, overseen by a ram. Zoom
In to see the detail of this still confrontation
In a place of delicate ceramics.