Molded

You create a mold,

carefully handbuilding each part and 

wedging it to remove imperfections

until it is bone dry and leather-hard.

The clay body you created,

thinking it will hold,

thinking it is glazed to perfection.

But it isn’t.

Someone sees a crack,

the greenware to your design that

you claimed was scored and slipped 

to your liking— to their liking.

A mold once keenly crafted has

begun to come apart.

But why?

It was made with such careful planning— 

burnishing each part of the process       

so bloating wouldn’t occur.

You made it seem like a porcelain prize,

like it would last.

But what more can you do? After all,

it’s only a mold.