Pinned Monument

Darius sports extensions
To the braiding of his beard,
A separate block of stone
Bolted on with pins and lead.

Who decided Darius
Had a beard that seemed too short?
Maybe it was Darius
Himself who was insulted.

In that case, the first sculptor
Was likely executed,
And woe betide the next one
If the prosthetic beard fell

Off. It didn’t. It hasn’t
For twenty-odd centuries.
Buddha, Confucius, Jesus,
You know the list, came and went,

Descendants of disciples
Still on every continent,
So many empires and how
Many earthquakes there have been

While that stone hangs from its pins,
Keeping Darius content,
Evidence of the lasting
Grace of Ahuramazda

Or the eerie randomness
Of durance, all said and done,
One awkwardly hanging stone
Of glow-up on Bisotun.