granite for gold
the church plaza:
a square of stone squares
not belonging to
this bit of earth
waste rock quarried in China
fit only for ballast
to center a ship’s
weight in water
to protect the porcelain
and airy silks above
when the ships docked in Manila
men cast the cut blocks into the shallows
their heft no longer needed
displaced by the morbid weight,
the irredeemable burden of
bar upon bar, yes,
tons, a hold’s worth,
an obscene mass
of silver and gold
stripped from the soil and peoples
of the now naked New World
