(for the artist known as Ememem of Lyon, France)

He heals asphalt fractures—
potholes, cracks in sidewalk
and asphalt—

the anonymous French
street artist who calls himself
the pavement surgeon,

using all manner of tile to
mosaic everything from delicate
fissures to deep crevices,

stealthily ornamenting
crater-sized gashes that most
pedestrians otherwise ignore.

This sidewalk poet employs
bits of thrown-away ceramics,
scraps to most, weaving

custom bandages that erase
the ugly with high-fashion
restoration. He turns scruffy

streets into sidewalk jewelry,
He polishes the unsightly
into ingenious attractions

that stop the feet of passers-by,
riveting them to the most
ordinary spots for just

a moment to marvel over
over wounds so randomly
inflicted, so prettily healed.

•••

You can see more of Ememem’s work here.