A Found Poem.
Source:
Lasting Impressions-Donovan Webster
Smithsonian- November, 2002
*Most directly from source, some words added.


STAY GRAY
9/17/03

The mouth of a shaman
Blows evil spirits away
As lichens and mosses rest upon
Deer stones.
Remnants of
Reindeer herders,
They stand in silent tribute
To a mysterious past
A playful human face
Sleeping or leaping
Beneath the tall shadows
Of Ushkin Uver
With the urgency
Of a singularly evocative
Ancient image,
Stone monoliths
Slowly deteriorate
Under exposure to elements
Gathering across the windswept steppes
“Archaeological significance”
They say
“Monetary value”
They say
“We must protect the stones
from an increasingly intrusive world”
And so we make a replica
Liquid latex
And a rubbery reverse impression
Archaeology to
Contemporary culture
“Nothing like this
anywhere else on earth”
Becomes
A museum-grade cast
Of every feature
Down to
The tiniest
nick.

“Why are you painting our stones blue?”
While, as if
In a prehistoric burial ground,
The talisman of an ancient heritage
Should remain in place
And stay gray.