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What loves, takes away
- Article from:
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Poetry
- Article date:
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September 1, 2008
- Author:
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Copyright informationCopyright Poetry Foundation Sep 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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If the nose of the pig in the market of Firenze
has lost its matte patina, and shines, brassy,
even in the half light; if the mosaic saint
on the tiles of the Basilica floor is half gone,
worn by the gravity of solid soles, the passing
of piety; if the arms of Venus have reentered
the rubble, taken by time, her perennial lover,
mutilating even the memory of beauty;
and if
the mother, hiding with her child from
the death squads of brutality,
if she, trying to keep the child
quiet, to keep them from being found out,
holds her hand over his mouth, holds him
against her, tighter and tighter, until he stops
breathing;
if the restorer - trying to bring back
to perfection the masterpiece scarred ...