and it is terribly good to carry water and chop wood
streaked with soot, heavy-booted and wild-eyed
as I crash through the rafters
and the ropes and the pulleys trail after
and the holiest belfry burns sky-high
and then the slow lip of fire moves across the prairie with precision
while, somewhere, with your pliers and glue you make your first incision
and in a moment of almost unbearable vision
doubled over with the hunger of lions
“hold me close,” cooed the dove
who was stuffed now with sawdust and diamonds
—Joanna Newsom, Sawdust & Diamonds
