Fallen Caryatid Carrying Her Stone
by Shari Zollinger
They think I simply bear the weight of courtyard
talk like any good girl would, with silence.
They think I don’t see them catch my
burnished body in its soft contortion
only to claim it a pose of pity.
A girl taken down by a block of stone.
I do not open my eyes. I alone
know the reason for infinite sitting.
What happens when you listen to a stone
for a bronze age? You finally make out
its language. Each weighty measure and tone
so paradoxically soft—what’s not known
is that I am poised to stand and shout
that I have found my name. That I am home.
IMAGE: “Fallen Caryatid Carrying Her Stone,” sculpture by Auguste Rodin (1840-1917).
EDITOR’S NOTE: A caryatid is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support, taking the place of a column or a pillar.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Native of Utah, Shari Zollinger has a BS in History from Utah State University. She spent six years living in Taiwan, part of that time spent attending the Stanford Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies in Taipei. Her love of language has directly inspired her work as a poet. Her poems have appeared in the Sugar House Review, Redactions: Poetry and Poetics, and The Desert Voice. She is currently working on a manuscript inspired by the works of Auguste Rodin. This poem comes from this work.
Silver Birch Press 
Shari, I like this poem very much. Caryatids have also fascinated me as a poet, so this is a nice surprise reading your poem. I’m not surprised you are researching Rodin…I can feel it in your words. Best wishes, Mary
Thank you Mary. Much appreciated feedback!
I just love this interesting and unusual poem, and I feel like I really *learned* something from it. Bonus! It’s lovely, Shari! And the Rodin work sounds wonderful.