The Sand Hill Review               http://www.sandhillreview.org 2009

The Long Marriage

I had to forget my idea of nature and learn again that stone is hard and in so doing found that it is also soft.

—Andy Goldsworthy

He holds each stone in his hands,

absorbs its heft, damp flesh,

its mineral scent, the ridges and cracks,

smooth and pitted surfaces.

He knows them each, briefly,

and they arch there briefly,

slate stacked so the columns lean

toward each other, jagged,

rough trunks of bowed trees,

two rock ladders that climb

by pressing against each other,

palm to palm.

Ellen Bass