Marlene Counts Sponge Spicules

Alone this evening, Marlene studies the close-up photograph of scattered sponge spicules and writes:

“One straight needle. Then another. Then a three-pronged star that makes me stop counting needles and start counting points. I lose my place. Start again.

These tiny mineral pieces help support a sponge’s whole body. Scattered in the photograph, they look like something swept off a workbench. Put them back into their living arrangement and somehow there is a body that holds its shape.

I know the effort of standing tall. But this? No pose, no grand central pillar. How do so many small supports share the work?”