a stone (a shell)

Inspired by the phrase ‘and dark-color’d sea-rocks, and of hay in the barn’ taken from ‘Song of Myself (Leaves of Grass)’ by Walt Whitman. This now comprises a part of The Linkages Project

I keep
on the ledge
in my house
a stone
and a shell

I took them
both
from the sea
at lowest water

I left
an exchange

my footprints
bedded
within the sand

until the tide
swept in
to shore

and I glance
sometimes
at my small
sea stone

dip it
below
an inch of water

to watch the darkness
steal
yet
make it clean

I am a man
of fields
and grasses

my purpose
lies alongside hay
stored
and under cover

my hands
are rough

utility’s weapons

no amount
of water
can make them
gleam

but I recall
a day

one day
of seaside

I recall
the imprint I made
with my naked feet

I left some part
of myself
in that caress
soft sand

took a stone
and
a shell

for the mark
of me

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