Give a Stone Another Name
Take up your quarried white stone
and give it, once more,
a new name. Don't speak
of its hardness, known only
to that other heart. Engrave
its fullest sound where you feel it
most: not in the empty hand, not
on the back twice broken. Feel it
where you lean into it, softening.
Let it call you, your own return to home.
© 2013 Maureen E. Doallas
Oh, how beautiful and poignant, Maureen: heart-breaking but also heart-healing.
ReplyDeleteMost intriguing and beautifully done. Bravo.
ReplyDeleteengrave its fullest sound...what a cool line that is...and the contrasts in soft and hard...
ReplyDeleteLovely and touching, Maureen. Even the hardest heart can break.
ReplyDeleteI'm getting images of a sculptor at work here; the way (s)he works with the stone to release the statue inside, feels for the imperfections and their possibilities. Maybe it's just because one of the copies of "The Kiss" is on display in Edinburgh (my hometown), but that's what your beautiful poem made me think of.
ReplyDeleteThis is so fine. Rich and deep...
ReplyDelete'lean forward' is on my mind this post-Boston Marathon week. I think of leaning towards 'home', wherever we find it. This has got me pondering. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI like the ending lines the most ~
ReplyDeleteI picture the engraving of a tombstone, meant to sum up a person's life in so few words.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the white stone in Revelation with our new name.
ReplyDeleteA bit intriguing thinking of it as a diamond... but the whole reads more like a grave stone or a statue...
ReplyDeleteNice.
It almost seems hopeless but for the beautiful two ending lines!
How in the world do you do this? This could make me weep if I let it.
ReplyDeleteI love stones of all kinds, and love this poem.
ReplyDelete