‘The Unnamed’ and ‘Incomplete’: Two poems

The unnamed

You can get lost trying to 
get back to the exit
at the Vatican Museum. 
With swirls taking you 
to skies filled with 
stories woven by hand, 
you walk under endless 
ceilings edged with gold, 
craning to understand. 
The Raphael rooms 
paint war, philosophy and saints 
coloured with emotions. 
Dali redefines Trinity.
Matisse brings more modernity. 
And yet, there are so many unnamed. 
Were those unnamed a part 
of humanity that continues
unframed, suffering the expulsion 
that Michelangelo painted in Sistine?

Incomplete 

For the statues left incomplete by Michelangelo (1475-1564), statues that were meant to accompany Moses on the tomb of Pope Julius II (1443-1513).

They try to break free–
these prisoners caught 
in marble. Stifled by mass, 
they struggle to emerge. 
The artist left them incomplete.      
Imprisoned still in rock, 
their muscles strain and bulge.
David completed 
breathes, hesitating, 
watching tautly for Goliath. 
His face tense, 
young, complete, 
almost breathing. 
While in Rome, Moses sits
alone waiting, waiting for the 
incomplete to grant him 
completion. He waits 
while the prisoners strain
for life, find home in Florence
near the perfection called David. 
Imprisoned in stone, 
the statues remain lovelorn
to find freedom in togetherness. 
Strung with the bond of incompletion, 
they struggle like humanity 
in throes of living–
Michelangelo's most moving, 
relatable imperfections. 

Mitali Chakravarty edits borderlessjournal.com and has published widely. Her latest book is From Calcutta to Kolkata: City of Dreams – Poems.