The Plaintive Song of a Stone

If I could but feel! I would feel the warmth of the sun upon my old, cold, featureless face.... If I could but touch, I'd touch the grass I lay on and revel in its texture like a little happy king.... If I could but smell, all the flowers of the world would be mine: roses and daisies and even orchids would be endless delight.... If I could but hear, then all nature would be my own symphony-- the birds rejoicing, the bees buzzing, dogs barking, even rolling thunder, all a continuous music to my soul.... If I could but see-- ah, what would a stone see? The ever breathing beauty of a world of color and life? Or would I see its slow and merciless unraveling by that other sentient being, burning its forests and dumping what cannot be dissolved in eons into proud, awesome oceans? But I would treasure my newfound mind and seek to thank the Being that could make even a stone see and feel and hear and think and even, in time, perhaps love.... O, how then I would pity those born with eyes and ears yet unable to see Life or hear God, living their lives scurrying about like blind, deaf and dumb rats while the eternal Light bathes all. [posted February, 2020]