Strange Places

small stones come from big rocks

Posted by Daniela Elza on Nov 01 2012

Today is mindful writing day. People around the worlds are posting small stones on their websites, and here on FaceBook, in their journals, on their fridges, even on twitter (but I am not on twitter so go read the instructions to get a handle).
What is a small stone?
A small stone is a short piece of writing that precisely captures a fully-engaged moment.
Join where ever you are. Look out your window. Place your attention on something during your walk out to lunch. Write something. Maybe you will even share it. Here are more details and guidelines if you would like to join. Ok, get to work.

Here are some small stones I found today.
What is tugging. Still trying to speak

in the undertow

The day we met—
a small bed
a poem in
a small apartment
with no curtains
because of the mountains.

It was loud traffic that
could have gone backwards
it was lovers on the path
kissing— louder than traffic.

you were not the beloved
but you stoked my desire
to seek more careFully.

so I worshipped you for an instant.
So what?
words don’t know until
we know.
we cut the night this way and that
thank god we cut it short.

this love: what you put away
in your pocket. a hand
kerchief to wipe your nose with.

this love: when the letters turn white
on pages that refuse to turn black.

you did not want to hear any of me
in that small cafe
on a street too difficult to find.
impossible to love this way.

knowing you is like burying
pipelines in earthquake zones.

you were a glitch. an error.
a burned field. somehow
I thought something might grow
there.

How to love this way?
no man’s land between us—
trenches barbed wire.
no woman’s land this.
so what if you propose
a truce?

what rocks
rocks on its way
to balance

to compose this stone with you
is to make it heavy
with words you carve in ire
is to carry it back to its unborn ocean
in that senseless wind you call desire.

©2012 Daniela Elza.
Written on Mindful Writing Day. Inspired by Small Stones. Thanks Fiona Robyn and Kaspalita Thompson for the invitation.