The Poetry Well is a monthly column that showcases island poetry. This month includes a poem by Sandra Noel.

Hold a Stone

Feel the smooth dense weight

in the palm of your hand

listen to the stillness—

it was once a river of sand

it was once molten lava

hardened by time or temperature

made smooth by waves and tide

into this small shape of a human heart.

Listen to the stillness—

the tic tock of our hearts, our time

is not there.

If stone has a beat

it is timed to the rhythm of the earth

in sync with the universe

and music of the stars.

Hold a leaf.

“Hold a Stone” was first printed in the 2017 chapbook “Into the Green,” published by Finishing Line Press.

Sandra Noel works as an illustrator developing interpretive and wayside exhibits for national parks, forests and other organizations involved in environmental education.

Her poetry has appeared in “Pontoon,” “Buddhist Poetry Review,” “Elohi Gadugi Journal,” “Haunted Waters Press” and the Finishing Line Press chapbooks, “The Gypsy in my Kitchen,” 2015, and “Into the Green,” 2017.