Stone

A poetic tale, which began with just the first line, and it just developed from there.

Whenever time passes--
As always it does
We seem to ignore it
Or at least that’s how it was
Until that morning of mornings
When so very nearby
I heard a small scream
Or was it a cry?

Upon closer inspection
I found a small stone
So very afraid
So very alone;

Yes, times had been hard
As I’m sure you might guess
For if you were a stone
Could you expect less?

The stone blabbered and muttered
It sobbed and it grieved
But it finally did stop
Boy, was I relieved!

The stone said he’d fallen
From a mountain nearby
And I just had to help him
Return close to the sky...

Where the friends he grew-up with--
The birds and the bees
The grass and the flowers
The clouds and the trees--
Called for his return
But what could he do?
He didn’t have legs
Like me, or like you;
He couldn’t walk, run, or jog
Or stand alone;
He only could roll--
Remember, he was a stone.

Somehow I felt sorry--
Now don’t ask me why;
I even thought I might help him
Return toward the sky;
But a stone had never helped me;
Except to let me throw
One at a can
And once I dropped one on my toe;

Still I couldn’t imagine
What was in it for me?
Sure favors are cheap
But should they be free?

So I asked him politely
If I helped him return
What would I get?
What would I earn?

The stone seemed to quiver
As it thought of a prize
Worthy of someone
Like me, who was wise
Enough to return him
To the home he once knew
On top of that mountain
Near the sky, oh, so blue.

After a moment
The stone spoke again
For he’d thought of a gift
To give me right then;
Did I know where stones came from?
And I had to admit
That I really had never
Thought about it;

So a deal was made
For though I’d not thought of it before
It now bugged me no end
And I had to know more;

I put the stone in my pocket
He said his name was “Hard”.
I asked, “To pronounce?”
He said, “No! “H”, then “ard”. . . .

On the journey upward
He talked about how
Stones do not come from nowhere
But I had to vow
To promise to always
Repeat what I’d hear
About where stones come from--
How they appear;

He said stones, unlike people,
Are old when they’re smaller;
That when he was younger
He had been taller
Than the mountain we climbed...
I asked, “How can that be?”
He said, “Be quiet and listen
And then you shall see
That stones, although small,
Have seen much--this is why--
They may not get around much
But life passes them by. . . .”

He recalled his beginning . . .
He simply was there
And it really was dark
So he didn’t know where;
Then a voice he heard
It said, “Let there be light.”
And he finally could see;
Boy, was it a sight!

Then the voice spoke again
For the water to split;
Half went to the sky
But the rest? He stayed under it.

Till the voice came again;
Said, “Let dry ground appear.”
And he rose to the sky;
Well, at least very near;

The voice told things to grow
Each and every place;
He found he had bushes and trees
All over his face.

Then the voice made the sun--
The same one seen today--
To make the light;
To make the day.

Then the voice made the moon
To help light the night;
It looked as big as the sun
But it wasn’t as bright.

The voice echoed again...
Made all creatures alive;
Fish, mammals, and birds--
They all did arrive;

Hard said,
“They made homes in my bushes
Ate fruit from my trees;
Oh, yeah, that reminds me
There were insects and bees;
And snakes, frogs, and toads
And before I forget;
There were dinosaurs, too;
Some dry and some wet.”

“Then the last thing the voice did
Was make a woman and man
Although not in that order
But both then began
To live in a garden
The voice had made
Till they did something wrong
And became afraid.”

What happened then
Hard couldn’t say
For when the voice got loud
He got blown away;
Into pieces of mountain--
Yes, as he had become older
He found that he, too
Had become a little boulder.

He saw many moons
And many a sun
With a collection of friends
Who weighed many a ton;

Then it started to rain
So long, he got downhearted
For before it had stopped
He was back where he’d started…

Under the water
As dead things floated by--
Making him sad
Making him cry.

Hard said,
“I was all alone
And wished I could float
When overhead
I saw a large boat;
It came closer and closer
When finally
I rose out of the water
And the boat settled on me.”

“Then a miracle happened...
At least that’s how it seemed;
For all I’d seen drowned, now lived…
All I’d hoped for and dreamed
Had somehow come true…
I was no longer alone
Pairs of all things that lived--
Two of everything known
Got off of that boat
Passed before me to see
It was like a parade
Given only for me.”

“Then the sky filled with colors
I’d not seen there before
They curved all together
And it’s never rained like before
But each time I see them
Even up to today
I’m reminded how special
Are all the things that came my way. . .”

“That was far from this place
And I’m sure that you must
Wonder how I got here
So I hope that you trust
My rockcollections--
Scratched in my surface alone;
Yes, it is true--
They are etched in stone.”

“As you may remember
I once was a boulder
But I became smaller
As I became older.”
“The wind and the rain
The cold and the sun
Molded my characteristics--
Each and every one;

Small droplets of water
Sometimes soaked into me
And then, when they froze
I became all
I was cracked-up to be."

“I’ve been ballast in boats
Catapulted in wars
Made into stone soup
And held open doors;

I’ve been picked up and carried
And then tossed aside
When a stone brighter than me
Got picked-up and tried.”

“Two stones are too heavy
To tote very far
So one often is left
Under the star
That makes the day
That the voice made;
I’ve only heard it once since
But I’m sure that it’s stayed
Close to this world
That I’ve been around
For wherever I look
I always have found
The things it first made
And that includes me
And nothing has changed
Too drastically . . .”

“Except that first man and woman’s
Heirs seem to have forgotten
They are here to control
Not to make rotten
The things the voice made--
Things like you and like me--
From the air in the sky
To the depths of the sea.”

“Remember,” Hard said,
“I heard that voice just once more?
It was long ago
But the words still me implore. . .”

“I was on the side of a road
When a man took hold of me
And held me up high
For others to see;
Then the same voice I’d heard
On the day I was made
Echoed from the man
But I was not afraid.”

“It said if others were silent
And held their voice
The stones would cry-out--
I did not have a choice;

From that instant on
I knew I could talk
But like the voice said,
Only if others balk.”

“Well, that day must have come
For you heard me today;
I’m sorry I scared you
But there was no other way
To get your attention;
I have to start now
Spreading the Story
But I don’t quite know how.”

“So if you help me travel
From here back to where
I came from at first
I know that we’ll share
The greatest adventure
Either of us has known
And we’ll have each other
So we won’t be alone.”

So what could I do?
What could I say?
Except to agree--
Stones don’t talk every day.

Author's Note

I use a lot of em dashes in my writes, but I noticed after I had pasted this poem here, that a lot of them got changed to quotation marks. I will try to change that, when I get a chance.

Reviews

[dan]

Rawland, Start with a tiny rock and end up in The Bible Story! The 'voice' is that of God, the rock tells of Eden and Noah and all the pairs of living things...and all in a rhyme form reminiscent of Dr. Seuss (and I mean that in the BEST way possible). Like Sharon states below, this is pure Rawland at his best. If I tried to write something like this I could never pull it off...pure Rawland. Hey, make more friends and get yourself out there, more people need to get to know you. Glad you're here, good sir! take care...dan

[Miss Sharon]

Well I finally found you on this site Rawland! I was using your full name like a different place. LOL This story is pure Rawland my friend. I love this stanza (He said his name was “Hard”.I asked, “To pronounce?”
He said, “No! “H”, then “ard”. . . .) You always bring me a smile Rawland and I'm glad to see you posting here! ~Sharon