Fragments

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Archeologists can

unearth fragments

shattered pieces of a 17th century jug

and somehow they know

(well, not “somehow” — they spend years studying this stuff)

what it would look like if it were assembled

and, more impressively

they can tell you it’s a Raeren stoneware jug

made in what is today Belgium

between 1580 and 1620.

Nobody can tell you

what it felt like to fill that jug

to carry its solid weight across a firelit room

to pour the ale you brew in your brew-house

from the lip of your Raeren stoneware jug

to put your feet up at the end of a long day

and drink.