Stone and Life
Heat enough to sear the soul
Sends molten stone pouring
From the veins of the earth
Into the complex sphere of life,
A vast churning atmosphere
And inexorable time
Wick away the heat
Leaving stone in their wake,
Stone, bedrock of the land
Cools and subsides
Coils solidify and pillars
coalesce
Basalt waits, dark,
Lichens move in
Chasing the sun
Changing the stone
Bringing life,
Herbs and shrubs encroach
Settling comfortably
In soil borne of the efforts of
lichens
Of and on the stone,
A lizard happens by
Under a winter sun
Pausing to enjoy the heat
The stone has faithfully garnered,
A kitten curls up
On a patch of stone yet bare
Highlighted by the sun
Warmth in a cold world,
A raven perches
On a proud basalt pillar
Surveying the world
Brought to be by stone,
Stone soaks in the sun
A bright warmth
Sparking the memory
Of ancient heat,
Lending its strength
Forged by the heart-fires of the
Earth
To holding the warmth of the sun
And giving it to the creatures of
life.
My mother is stone and lichen and
raven.
My father is lizard and I am
kitten.
She is stable as bedrock, giver of
warmth, tender of life.
