stone world
we can almost imagine it, right?
people like you and me
except before metal and electricity
people who use stone to shape stone
into weapons, tools, and ornaments
surely they covered their nakedness
probably they cured leather
and so had strings to tie a bauble
around a neck, ankle, or wrist
I saw a drawing once, a squatting man
beside a fire, eyes dull
I suspect not, I think they were
as sharp as any of us
they would, you know
figure out how to mine ore
smelt it, and shape it into wonders
stone knack
I knew a man who had the knack
of tossing a comment into a discussion
a comment that sank like a stone in water
halting the discussion before it resumed
and carried on as without interruption
fire dreams
when I was younger and sometimes sat beside a fire
gazing into the blazes as they danced
seeing sometimes Troy, Jerusalem, or even Paris
or sometimes heroines like Joan of Arc
or sometimes, I admit, only the bacon sizzling
but the times I lked best were when the blazes
seemed to show me beginnings of a story
a girl approaching a dragon
a young man readying to ride his first Harley
a couple entangling fingers in surprise
some of those times, I'd swear the stones around the fire
crackled like the wood dying to give fire
crackled as if offering dreams of their own
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