Man with a Hammer

Dr Abe V Rotor

Man with a Hammer, life size in stone by a local artisan, 
the late Boy Peralta..San Vicente, Ilocos Sur   

Here he stands, sun and rain, season in and out, alone,

a sledge hammer hangs on his brawn, frozen in time;

so blank his stare toward his subject, lifeless as stone,

immortality defined in neglect in mournful sublime.  

And yet seeks man the mystery of power cum divine,

a god from Mount Olympus, on Apollo to the moon;  

yet Man with a Hoe, Markham's hero a lowliest  kind, 

and Rodin's thinking man turned prophet of doom. 

Mortal, shortcut to man lofty dreams, and often greed,

 a hammer falling from the sky striking the hardest;

not once, but many times 'til the die is cast to the grid,  

in Medusa's gaze, freezing man perhaps in his best. 

And bridging the gaps of thoughts and generations,

in suspended animation of true story or legend;

yet live the man with a hammer for whatever reasons,

  and souls seeking immortality at the final bend.~