Ceramic

My daughter asks if the bowl is broken or together 
(like her father and me)
holds firm the two cusps 
to make a hairlined whole
 
the opposite of truth will please her 
(but will it hold) 
down that linea nigra
 
watertight as her best questions
as she was in me 
sincere once meant the wax used to join
(a vessel's broken halves)
 
I warm the words between my hands 
(to stanch the burgeon of water heaving) 
behind a shape made to contain