A Rock Displays
“For the error bred in the bone
of each woman and each man
craves what it cannot have...”
- Auden, ‘9/1/1939’
A rock displays its ardor and release
it shrinks and swells, we climb or pocket it
its truth becoming ours in each of these
it keeps its counsel, not a moody beast
it sheds the uses we had thought would fit
a rock displays its ardor and release
our climbing codifies what we would keep
we pocket pestles, arrowheads and flints
its truth becoming ours in each of these
a crocodile will swallow stones to knead
apart its dinner’s features: heads limbs hips
a rock displays its ardor and release
we want these stones to still us when we bleed
to make us steady, heal our rages, rifts
its truth becoming ours in each of these
we would become steadfast but cannot be
our rascals blind us, still our light persists
a rock displays our ardor and release
our truth becoming its in each of these
Don Brandis is a retired healthcare worker living quietly outside Seattle writing poems. His latest book of poems is Paper Birds (Unsolicited Press 2021).
Amethyst Review 