Abbie Read             To the Fallen,   2021

colonial plant stands and wooden pedestals (burnt), wooden vases (charred), blackened twine

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Ode to the Fallen, to the earth made bare,

For the blackened stumps supplanted

This forest, this grove once vibrant, once lush

For this is the architecture, of loss

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These passive plinths, these static stand-ins, artifice or artifact.

Carved columns emblazoned with non-native flora 

Display decorative plant-life from distant kingdoms

For this is the architecture, of exchange

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