permanence? ridiculous concept

not written in stone

permanence,

what a ridiculous concept,

within even a human lifetime

stores come and go,

neighborhoods transform

and forget the lives that played out there before,

we talk of change and how a present convention

is “not written in stone,”

so I look for artifacts from previous people

written in stone points and tools,

in the sculpting of the land,

I’m proud of the walls and steps of stone I have made,

and I reach toward the future

with my students, my children, my grandchildren,

and with my words,

today I am proud of how I’ve understood the creek

and what high water can do to its bed,

and how we moved rocks to help channel the way

for water to clear a place to dip,

and now a small waterfall exists where, without our touch,

the world would have lost a small grace,

storms come, the creek floods,

and the bed is remade,

even stone can rewrite itself. 

by Henry H. Walker

November 29, ’14