Our Burnished Mantle

Our dedicated mantle is

a shrine to our permanence;

dressed with life's, lingering

mementos, a time capsule

spaced on an organic ledge

baring a sentimental record

of our transient journey, as

acclimated norms intersect

with eclectic tastes, skimmed

lily pads with dredged silts,

tethering us to foreign cultures,

twining us with lapsed Eras

 

Decorative emblems brush

against sacred, timeless symbols,

prized relics with bargain copies:

travel trinkets, costly souvenirs;

antique clocks, artificial clones;

lacquered, porcelain bells, painted

ceramic shells; gold, silver plated

candelabra, iron-tinted candle holders

 

A framed folio linking the family chain

caresses the polished keep-sakes:

small, thin-paneled frames with

larger, dated, barn wood frames;

thick, glass covers along with

cheap plastic casings;

light, paper backings stride

denser, easel boards.

A collage of our essence

shadowing the token

objects of our desire

 

Our dedicated mantle is

an altar to an enduring

fealty, for above our furnished

pyre towers a sentinel, the

bespectacled architect of

our dreams, an icon anointed

with the oily pigments of an

itinerant painter, our noble

great grandfather