March 22, 2000, at This Stone
       

This man who mumbles,
who walks with quick shuffles,
follows his shoes through the dust.
Then stops and squats
with a wonder.
He raises & reveals
the stone's belly to the sky.
He spins in the grassless circle.
He closes his eyes & faces the horizon.
With his right hand to his forehead
he sings, "Torero, torero, torero.
Be gone." With opening eyes,
he sees a mountain
with lions on either side
sink in foaming water,
& glimpses dolphins, flying fish,
octopi, & one tree. He blinks.
Goats & birds arrive. He lowers
the stone's belly to the ground
& finds himself back in town.

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Copyright © 2011 Tom Holmes All rights reserved
from The Oldest Stone in the World
Amsterdam Press
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission