She made Adam
marking his shins
and cheekbones
the striations of muscles
his rib cage his hair
she sculpted him
from the mussel shells
of the Atlantic,
ebony cobalt,
she sculpted him
using only nature’s gifts —
coral flowers bones
the skull of a springbok–
silver,
she sculpted him
for 15 years she sculpted
Adam, grinding shells —
each day
she became sicker
losing her hearing
memory
balance
and still she sculpted,
building Adam,
from her “memory of joy”
drilling shells laced
with lead and arsenic
poisoned
by her own hands
her own
Adam
Note: This poem is based on the Canadian sculptor, Gillian Genser https://torontolife.com/life/my-beautiful-death/