Under Cast Iron Utility Cover

by Marie-Andree Auclair

Foundry art we tread on

circular lid

ajar, danger sign

and gateway

to underground factory

covering plate

lip, mouth, sphincter,

brink of birthing channel

to, from, back

conscious world

to chthonic maze.

Enter,

regress within crucible.

Open, expose, explore.

A breeze fingers your neck

thin Braille clicks, claws

of granite nails,

spectres gather, breed,

wait in canyons, corridors, bowels.

Cauldrons fume

fury, terrors, loathing,

churns brutal passions.

You risk trampling for tempering.

Exit,

a slow ladder to climb

sweaty rungs under palms

how to sort what to carry

from what to drop,

process, recombine data,

scraps, scintilla,

smelt personal ores.

Alloy.