Five Stones
(To Amy and Hamish)


Five Stones
stacked one on the other
make a lady
and five stones mean something.
So he stacks them like love letters
around the garden.

Six dogs, all girls,
talk into the night and delight
in him, the stick thrower, the fire maker, the gardener and chef.

Three cats, one girl who wants to love you all day
and two boys, one who is being coaxed messily by you back into life
and the other who is cat-god handsome.

Salmon and fresh garden vegetables for dinner.
Blackberries and huckleberries for dessert.

Mirror colored balls float around the pond as the bullfrog and goldfish evade our view.
Reflections of the Western Red Cedars.

Jack in the beanstock Kiwi in the back climbing 30 feet and counting.
Giant fallen Hemlock behind, its roots exposed and ancient. As big as a Volkswagen.

The prickers got me and we called out for him to machete us out as I was only wearing sandals.
I would like a machete and five stones.
Hack me out of this limbo and make a woman of stone who doesn't mind the rain at all.