When Blue Skies Fail

When blue skies fail,
The verdict is in:
Cold nights ahead,
Companioning dread.
Though suns may blaze
In the ether above,
Persistent haze
Depletes their heat,
Exudes a sleet
That pelts and pricks.
In the sculpture garden,
So many ideals!
Unresponsive, however,
To the bell and quaver
Of visiting voices;
No communication
Between marble and flesh
When the flesh is too ancient
And the stone that fresh
And preoccupied
With hammers and chisels--
A vernacular
Rap-tap code of their own,
Expressed in strokes
Against muscle and bone.