As a Stone

As a Stone:

Still as a stone in a field

Covered with lichen and moss,

Curdled by drivel and dross,

Seeming as dead and congealed;

Still as a stone in a field

Wakened by farmer and beast,

Weathered by notice, deceased,

Often as low and concealed

Still as a stone in a field

Watching more closely than me.

I am the farmer; I am the beast.

The stone is a poem: a vigilant priest --

Mediator, I forget

Teacher, I rebuke

Prophet, I don’t see.