In Praise of Bricks

Though I may be impressed
     by cassocks and golden chalices
     ornamenting deep-throated
     luminaries of the church
     and robes and powdered wigs
     of legal lions in the court,

Bricks are another thing:
     the common elements
     of villages and roads
     in river towns and palaces
     that hold up walls

     and pave the places

     where we have to walk.

I shall sing first my praise always
     for the ordinary people
     who prepare the coffee
     and mend my shirts
     and tell me every morning
     who I am.