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.