Published in New Verses from New Voices, the second collection of poems of the ‘New Voices’ poetry group, Wellington Square Press, Sydney, 2016, p. 23.
So you think you know it,
That statue in the Galleria
dell’Accademia? Wait. Before we
Get there, look for his last
Sculptures, unfinished. Inhered
To the stone, the slave
Emerging free, La Pieta’s misery.
Now move this way and see
David, defiant body that on
Unveiling was pelted with tomatoes
bleeding into Carrara marble.
His dreading eyes, teenager
Reckoning his rival, slingshot
Over his shoulder, rock in
One hand, in poised uncertainty.
Vulnerable, too handsome to fear,
One rising, unwinding heel,
How could this moment be
Worthy of the commission
of the Opera del Duomo?
The Florentines wanted David
Michelangelo wanted him too.
