glass-blue, parchment-plaster painted
and flecked with black marks
half-Morse, half-feather
behind, two iron-dark plaques
anodised
these shards in a cigarette tin
Benson & Hedges Ltd.
Super Virginia Cigarette
tissue lined
from Old Bond St., London
to Raqqa, North Syria in 1985-95
amidst waffles of stone
curlicued plaster
a glass tile like rows of marbles
(9th century) (but could be 1920s)
almost nondescript, discards, afterthoughts