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Stony Vision

Alan Bold

On the hillside where they come to cut trees
To keep warm through overcast winter days
He saw a stone on a treeless stretch of grass.

And it looked like a book dropped from heaven,
A monumental tome with all the answers,
A heavenly logos come to this hilly haven.

He held back, thinking if he came too close
It would be nothing but a stone, not
Commandments come to bring the world repose.

He held back and noticed that the others
Ignored it, walked past in their search for wood,
Being there solely as wood-gatherers.

He looked again: was it a stone
In the shape of a book, or a great message
Sent directly down for him alone?

Commonsense told him the object was a stone,
Nothing but a stone, so like the others
He passed by. Next morning it was gone.


Alan Bold

from This Fine Day (Borderline Press, 1979)

Reproduced by kind permission of Alice Bold.

Tags:

chance stone supernatural winter wisdom
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Alan Bold1943 - 1998

Alan Bold was a poet, journalist, critic and editor, best known for his award-winning biography of Hugh MacDiarmid, with whom he had a long-standing friendship.
More about Alan Bold

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