Blackbirdan online journal of literature and the artsSpring 2008 Vol. 7 No. 1
CLAUDIA EMERSON

The Well: Egg and Tongue

Each day before the bell sounds the noon meal‚
they lounge on the main staircase. The stairwell

rises into a great dome‚ voices listing
upward and lingering in it with mothlike

aimlessness—while‚ at the base of the well‚ an antique
pattern repeats itself in alabaster measure‚

the endless egg and tongue soothing‚ voiceless.