TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE YEAR 2012
The Second Year of the Second Decade
of the 21st Century
A Song For the New Year
From A Sheltered Place
I’ve stopped to watch a man skipping stones in a sheltered cove
In a graceful angular motion he takes each one then hurls it into the bay
I see only him and not the stones — he seems a gently textured man
With each one he moves in toward the water to help it take an extra hop
Crouching by the shore he judges the distance of the skip then begins again
His maleness has a dangerous vulnerability and I will not let him go
Over and over he skips stones across the water in a pre-ordained ritual
Enormous pain and happiness dance together in his eyes.
I wonder what the stones at once so heavy and so light mean to him
I think they are hope and death because that is what he is to me
I see Virginia in another time putting other stones into her pockets
Not stones for skipping but for sinking. She sits at her desk
and then writes her last letter to him:
I’ve done the best I could, please forgive.’ And Leonard did.
Now he moves to the far end of the cove and casts the last stone
His mouth wide open in a mournful scream but there is no sound
Counting 1–2-3–4-5–6-7 — 8 jumps it takes, the best stone of all
In a look of release not victory he continues on his way
He bows in tribute to an enormous absence he alone knows.
I wait for the arrival of the stone’s absolute absence
I desire that precise moment when there is no trace of existence
I think then of other absolutes: the predictability of sinking
Of Virginia, and of me
I think about this man and the burdens he carried in the stones
I wonder what further sorrows he will yet discover on his journey
Across the rocky beach I witness him moving away from me
Despite his retreat I believe in him and that love exists in silence.
In soft dreams my own stones leave me without effort
Gathering themselves from inside my heart they fly upward
And catch an osprey guarding his nest
Osprey misses nothing – he sees all our stones
He knows the disappearing man and my heartgrief
In a flash of his wingspread Osprey covers me in shadow
He flies toward his nest, his home, his refuge, his duty
In obligatory exultation of joy I watch him land
I look up to him and down to the water
Possessing nothing I indulge a thought of enormous gratitude
For this small event of lasting magnificence
In my past resides a man in a sheltered cove skipping stones
I surrender my stones and in an instant’s breath I release
Everyone’s stones and feel suddenly and completely … Alive.
©Alida Brill 2012
What an amazing poem of renewal on this first day of the new year! I am moved and inspired.
Oh, this brought goosebumps to me. So beautiful. So inspiring. The perfect poem for this first day of a new year.
‘I surrender my stones…‘
Yes
‘… he seems a gently textured man …‘
a gorgeous, evocative phrase … makes me think of several such men I have known and loved …
Thank you, Alida