ANA MARIA KATIGBAK | Here Is the Chisel And Here Is the Mallet

ANA MARIA KATIGBAK

Here Is the Chisel And Here Is the Mallet

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Some woman holding up against some man
            A chisel in one hand, a mallet in the other.

The painting is called The Lovers,
            And the man is a work in progress,

Half hard marble and half soft shape,
            As much muscle as he is idea.

He holds in one hand, a chisel
            And in the other, a mallet.

Each one withstands how chisel
            Nicks where mallet pounds,

Marble slanted, scanted, to resemble
            A curve, a shoulder, a bone –

A man. A woman. Each one withstands
            The work of the other’s hands

Where to shape also means to take
            Apart

And to limn means some excess
            Has been sloughed off –

If they’re to be believed, then love.

This poem is part of the collection that won Third Prize for Poetry in the 2005 Palanca Awards