MARBLE STATUE

Standing guard outside
the garden entrance
looking pensive
forlorn
carrying the weight
of centuries
on your bare shoulders
now stained
with weak acids
from millions
of raindrops
and brown-red leaves
falling half-hearted
from sad trees.

What you have seen
can never be known
and I wish I could
read your thoughts
but your eyes look down
as if you know what
I would ask of you.
You are but stone
and I am jealous of
your cool indifference
your veneer that takes
hundreds, thousands,
of years to really
fade away.