David Taylor - A New Vessel

The clay lay on the table before me;
it has just arrived and freed from its sack
with preserving amniotic fluid.
When it had first arrived at the door
and with the excitement of the delivery
fresh in mind I had lit a cigarette;
and considered the infinite potential
inherent in its elemental state.

Now ready to be thrown upon the wheel
that quietly spun and whirled,
with a gentle hum of life.
With no particular end formed in sight
I lay it softly down on the spinning platter,
that hummed and spun and turned.

I took one hand and thrust
into the very centre and with great love,
pressed out;
with another hand outside,
close bye,
to hold and restrain the outward force.
A magnificent vessel formed before my eyes.

The form of beauty spun
with that hum of life,
fashioned from love inside
and training hand without.
Its essential nature
always present in each grain of clay,
just the same as when it first arrived,
now magnified by its perfect shape.

What shall it hold I thought;
not for me to say,
when hardened by the fire
it will roam the world
and be filled with all things
that its destiny will make.
But the beauty of its form
is well suited
to hold the very finest
and keep it held from harm.

David Taylor

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-new-vessel/