No, not the ornate godly eye glowing
from atop Rome’s Pantheon or Iran’s
Hasht Behesht. Cofferings left us bowing
to their architects as we watched sun span
etched frames of sculpted inner domes. Yet what
stays with me, love: that small statue menhir
in Rodez’s ancient garden—gray squat
oval stone, grave symbol of Earth mother,
its single eye, simple round incision,
catching glimmers of light like glittering
diamond. I reveled in such a glisten
long ago, shaking hand slipping gold ring
on your steady finger, your diamond eyes
assuring me we’re blessed by deities.
Roger Armbrust
May 28, 2009
