On Contribution to Public Edification

Granite markers chiseled with verse
from Asylum Hill to Westerly Terrace . . .
tribute and inspiration, along the walk

Wallace took daily. A sky filled
with blackbirds and the preamble
to other metaphors. Just a man

with pen and fury racing the dark
corridors behind attorney eyes.
A man with evergreen inclinations,

finished with the dross necessary
to satisfy creditors . . . it was his way
to split from modern demands

and eke intricacies from pedestrian
facades. Here, where traffic continues,
rests a testament torn from volcano.