Glass, by Robert Pinsky (a poem to memorize)
Waterlike, with a little water Still visible swirled in the bottom
Earth changed by fire, Shaped by breath or pressure
Seemingly solid, a liquid Sagging over centuries As in the rippled panes Of old buildings, Time’s Viscid pawprint.
Nearly invisible. Tumbler. Distorting. Breakable — the splinters Can draw blood.
Craft of the glazier. Ancestral totem substance: My one grandfather Washing store windows With squeegee and bucket, The other serving amber Whiskey and clear gin over the counter,
His son my father An optician, beveling lenses On a stone wheel. The water Dripping to cool the wheel Fell milky in a pale Sludge under the bench Into a galvanized bucket It was my job to empty, Sloshing the ponderous Blank mud into the toilet.
Obsidian, uncrystallized silicate.
Unstainable or stained. Mirror glass, hour glass, dust: Delicate, durable measure.