Secret Flute
The cups stand empty, steady, calm.
The candle glows: a secret flute.
The rose releases dazzling balm.
The things are silent: but not mute.
Christina Egan © 2013
Flötenton
Die Tassen stehen leer und ganz gelassen.
Die Kerzenflamme ist ein Flötenton.
Die Rose schüttet Süße aus in Massen.
Die Dinge schweigen; doch sie sind nicht stumm.
Christina Egan © 2013
The usefulness of a pot lies in its emptiness.
Lao-tse
Photograph: Christina Egan © 2009
Fewer Things!
We need to churn out fewer words,
we need to burn out fewer lamps,
we need to fashion fewer things,
but those, of perfect elegance:
a shallow bowl with turned-out rim,
just like a pale and slender hand;
a silver ring with single stone,
as if the sky and moon descend.
Christina Egan © 2013
Roman bowl. Photograph from the
website of the Museum of London.
See also my musings on the little
Mesopotamian jar, Glazed Clay.
Assyrian jar, glazed pottery. Photograph:
© The Trustees of the British Museum.
Christina Egan 