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Rock and Water
I was conceived in the warm haven of a mother’s womb. Developing..........growing………. morphing……….through the epochs of time. Then suddenly, on no day in particular, I emerged into the sunlight.
Mother never asked how I was or where I was. Unnoticed, unwanted. Kicked, trampled, tossed. I lay still in the dust for countless millennia. But unlike flesh, time smoothed my countenance and gave me ethos.
And again, on no day in particular, slender fingers gently lay hold of me. They lifted me off the very site from which I had witnessed the passing of time, the evolution of my environment, the tempest of human history.
I was taken to unfamiliar surroundings. I had known only decaying branches that served as habitat to life’s smaller creatures. I had witnessed only thirsty grass and weed struggling to survive in the parched soil. I had come to rely on the sun to repeat its rise and fall and signify the passing of time.
Now, I am neighbor to polished mahogany, flowers in vases, plants in pots. The sun seems to come and go as marked by the arrival and departure of the natives residing in this new locale.
I have been given venue. My visage sparkles in the light. I am noticed, I am wanted. I am admired and appreciated as the art of nature. A new epoch has begun.
I am a rock
I gave life before you existed. I sculpted the land before you lived on it.
I have been the ice on your mountains, I have been the warm tea in your cup.
I have been your tears of happiness. I have been your expression of grief.
I washed the feet of Roman emperors and the face of Christ.
I have quenched your thirst. I have drowned your children.
I have saved your homes from fire and I have washed them away in flood.
I have been reborn countless times, but I have never died.
I will never leave you. Even though you underappreciate my value.
I will remain in your presence, for without me you will die.
I am water.
Roger White/21 April 2024
Copyright ©
Roger White
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