and what improbable echo
shaped this painful thinness
a figurine hiding his face in his hands

the people of the past found them
abandoned hidden in rock crevices
and bear witness to their advanced state

in this harsh and awe-inspiring landscape
they conceal at their heart the detritus of sacrificial rites
whose disturbing beauty supplicates for rain

gnarled figures with arms raised to heaven
each hewn with rough adze blows
a corresponding variety of uses – and perhaps of meanings