Monstrance for a Grey Horse
— James Acord, 1988

Unearthly, equine form —
zygomas empty eyes blue
teeth polished smooth —

trapezoidal ton of granite
enclosing a small canister
of live nuclear material

mined from the artist’s
mildly radioactive
Franciscanware plates.

Held now in suspense.
Held now in suspended
animation. Imagine —

this stone knight
placed outside Hanford’s
dead zone. Centuries

past the final zugzwang,
the only piece remaining
on a deserted battlefield.


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