David C. Maughan

I AM STONE

I sit alone and listen to Wind as she blows down the valley.

I listen to her many voices singing a cappella chorale as she travels
Down the canyon from wall to wall touching every stone along her merry way.
Every tree, every flower, the very earth, touching everything in her passage:
All will bow to her siren song and vary from their destine path to join the waltz of Wind.

All that is but Stone. And he, he in his solemn solitude, he will not bow or bend.
He will not whirl or promenade. He will not give in to the blithe chorus of Wind.
Stone in his algid martyred existence cannot, will not bare sway to Wind, or her sister Water.
To do so would be weakness, and he is strong, he is Stone: Frore and matchless Stone.

I sit alone and listen to Water fall in droplets to from sky to earth.

I listen as she plays her song on nature’s instruments:
Every tree, every flower, every stone within her ambit: the very earth.
From cliff to cliff and down the glen she plays her ancient lullaby of surrender.
She will bend them all to do her will and dance with her in gross abandon.

All that is but Stone: and he, he in his smug desolation will not jig or jitter.
He will not flex or yaw. He will not succumb to the orchestra of Water.
Stone in his appalling rigidity cannot, will not find his infirmity in Water, or her sister Wind.
To do so would be disdainful, and he is proud, he is Stone: swollen and immovable Stone.

I sit alone and listen as Wind and Water have their way with all around me.

Wind and Water: such foolish sisters they,
with naught to do but play a game of tag with all of nature.
I hear their songs and laughter. Their merriment and frolic migrate past me.
Every tree, every flower, from side to side of valley wide,
all of all do dance for their amusement.
All that is but Stone: I have no time for fribble such as this – I am solid, I am Stone.
I am the foundation of the very earth.

But brother Time does team against me – a silent partner with the sisters.
Together in their everlasting symphony they wear on me and ruin.
Voice unheard but not unseen Time shows my chink and I am done.
I am swept away little by little, oh so very little at a time I travel to the sea.

I am Stone.