Poem based on Patricia Cronin’s sculpture Memorial of a Marriage.

She struck with her chisel and hammer
To grave on humanity’s doors
Be free of your phobia
And “Judge not”
What do you mean when you say love?
What do you mean when you say equality?
What do you mean when you say marriage?
What do you mean when you speak of sex?
And there was silence in humanity for the space of an hour
And the unloving ones had to put down their stones
That they had taken up in their hands to throw at her
Judged by her work
Seeing the lack of love in themselves
Seeing the lack of good sex in their married lives
Seeing the inequality they practiced in their own partnerships
And the stone rejoiced at what it was made into
And the few stones that were made flesh, then, if any, cried out saying
We need more heart.
Teach us to love with no impediments
Teach us equality
Teach us the meaning of marriage true
Teach us to enjoy the gift of sex
Make us soft and tender inside and show us mercy
Lead us to our feminine sides and vulnerable selves
All due to the power of a giant work of art
That spoke silently made of white Carrara marble
Unforgettable, and of the hands that made it
Art can sometimes strike from seeming hell on seeming heaven’s door
And make us wake up, think and change our preconceived hates
Give up HATE, all you who enter here!