CARRERA

Don’t writhe and strain

against the weight

that is all around you.

Move through it like water.

Dance to the music

of mallet and chisel

‘til you find your contraposto pose.

Explode from the block, the rock.

Emerge into life, your life,

as sculptor from slave,

with all excess chipped away—

and your hands now free

to embrace what you’ve rescued,

what you’ve cut from Carrera.