Michelangelo's Pieta shrinks
Behind glass.
Bernini’s canopy shimmers
In wavy brown.

The sculptors face off
Like boxers in a ring.
Each punch plants
A terrible dent in
White marble.
A squeeze of a hip here.
A dip of a head there,

Stone can wrinkle
Like time. Light
Can emanate from
Wood, gilded
In geometric designs.

Death laps across
A mother’s lap.
The divine turns human
In a litany of flesh.

Formless blocks of stone
Ascend to the dome,
Met by a descending dove.

Perfection in art.
Love bounded by love.