5312
Open
Heritage Toronto
2006
Your anvil is the earth, and with your right arm
You span the arc of heavan like the sun.
Eight decades on this scaffolding 'a lifetime'
I sought a sign of you, but there was none.
Under my chisel marable fell to stonedust,
But only torsos, idols would be born.
I found you no, elusive, radiant, sunburnt,
Who glowed there pulsing under every stone.
I have myself become an ancient stone block,
Split by vines, a still, curmudgeonly old rock,
But in my soul the old flame yet burns on.
How can I shed this flesh that holds me prisoner?
Strike me, if you can love a hoary sinner,
Divine Sculptor, My God. I am the stone.
Translated by Andrea Jarmal
Toronto Legacy Plaque Project 2006
Heritage Toronto
Michelangelo's Last Prayer by George Faludy Commemorative Plaque, 2006