Rock Bottom
“If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Luke 19:40
Stones
began to blister the ground,
the day after tongues
melted around molars.
Able to ignore gravity’s hand,
gritty stones burrow up,
swim under streams,
dance around mountains,
tread over oceans,
and unearth each other
until no pebble is left unturned.
There are poignant nods
as they congregate together
and discuss their calling.
Then, from the muck of an empty well
a lone stone begins to caterwaul.
Just a boulder’s throw away
a wall joins in the wailing.
Then an avalanche connects,
a pile unites, a pathway bonds
until a glass house shudders.
Sticks beg to marry stones.
They dream of their offspring:
great bone breakers.
But stone walls
keep getting in the way
and the search intensifies
to find out who cast the first stone.
—Philip Venzke, Stevens Point, WI
