Self Portrait as a Roman Ruin
A column hopeful
of space, inclusion, still Ionic—
two opposed volutes like wishes,
or whorled gastropod shells from a watery far away . . .
I should have been—was I part of—
a peristyle? I hardly remember the entablature,
the frieze, something with boys, I think,
women pouring water. There must have been
order. Who could tell
in this stubbly field where mostly I hold up
nothing, made singular,
glorified by air.Jillian Barnet
Copyright © 2003
Jillian Barnet's poetry has appeared in Nimrod, Karamu, Bellingham Review, and elsewhere. She has written book reviews for Calyx and Café Review. Jillian works as a technical writer for business and industry and as a professor of creative and business writing at Chatham College. She received her MFA from Vermont College.