All things are stone:

the shells of dead crustaceans,

the shattered hearts of mountains,

molten core that rises from volcanic throats,

deep earth’s crust, the granite breath,

quartz and feldspar.

Stone is memory of a star,

whirled away into oblivion—

first red, then blue, then spun

as fine as nothingness itself.

Stone of caves, of pyramids,

marked by human touch and tread,

stony moon which felt men’s boots

on ancient cratered faces scarred by stars.

Stone weighs heavy on bodies of the dead

clasping the spirit in its flight—

yet in time, beleaguered by rivulet and rain,   

stone can become less permanent than grass.

 
Dr. Elaine Laura Kleiner was born in Portland, Oregon, and educated at Oregon State University and the University of Chicago.  A Professor of English Language and Literature at Indiana State University in Terre Haute for thirty-two years, she now lives in Southeastern Michigan and teaches online for DeVry University.