The unfinished: it’s one of Rodin’s gifts.
But once we’ve taught ourselves to see his work,
there’s no difference between the whole body
and parts of it: hands, head, feet, the torso—
no difference between rough-hewn surfaces
and others where we find ourselves
in sheer glass finishes, equal in beauty.
Encircled by the rotunda’s windows,
where light from Palo Alto disappears, appears,
Despair keeps her stance, left foot in one hand,
head bent so her face, almost out of sight,
maintains there’s no pain. The granite features
Rodin left as unfinished as cement
we put to our feet daily. That journey.