Paper Clay

here, in the center

of what was once impenetrable,

I stand, both feet below

what is otherwise ground,

head in the atmosphere

of rock solid calm. I know

this is not possible, know

that the act of going

through not over

is not supposed to feel

this fine. where is that

sorrow who trailed me

like the last note of a dirge?

where the shouldered weight

that never would lighten?

here, deep among boulders

whose shadows tumble

at my feet, cascading space

weighted by invisible cloudsong

and the faint hope of lift,

I know, finally, without doubt,

what it is to be inside a mountain

and all I feel is a soaring joy.

Paper clay is the process of adding fiber to clay to create lighter structures.

This poem was inspired by Annette Bellamy’s art installation of

suspended paper clay boulders.