Wall Stones

North wall of the Armory Building, NW 11th, Portland, Oregon

They stripped the white paint off this building,
bared brick and black basalt. Revealed a wonder:
this wall, each block a different size and shape
cut and placed by master masons. This crazy-quilt wall
could stand forever.

That a life assembled out of random-seeming scraps
could piece together so. That order, strength
could so arise from chaos.
That we could stand upright with not a square corner among us—
could it be so?
Could it be so?

What hand would lay the courses, shape the blocks, spread the mortar
to what world-shaping purpose? Old stones don’t answer
but they listen to your questions patiently.

Available! High-Voltage Lines, Knocking from Inside