AGRIGENTO

I am a telamon.
I was created with my brothers
to support a great weight
with my arms and shoulders.
I consider this an important job
for people come to worship
at the temple we hold up.
 
In the morning, when the sun
strikes our deity
and the goat is slaughtered
we feel most proud.
Even though the smoke may blow
in our direction,
we are never offered the meat.
 
The priests believe we are made
of stone.
They do not know
we move at night,
trying to shift that uncomfortable weight
off our shoulders.
Sometimes, one of my three brothers
does not bear his load
and more weight shifts to us others.
But mainly, we cooperate.
 
If, in the morning,
a priest spots a crack
in the frieze above us
he worries about earth tremors.
We laugh. It's our shiftiness
he has spotted without knowing it.
Of course, this causes other cracks,
we, telamones, laughing.
 
This is one of our few pleasures.
We, telamones,
who bear
the weight
of the world.