Midnight Poetry: “Scouring Rock”

Scouring Rock
(Richard Satterlie)

The wandering rains of
windswept canyons leach
rock and root from our
plotted path, leaving all
angles of good, rounded

My huffing cough gives you
warmth in its mist of life,
where our breasts touch
and our hearts yet fail to reach
the story we were promised

And a trickle of gullied water
swells to our ankles and sings
of Spring’s seeds, scouring
their hard coatings against
the rock of our next years

our hope, germination

You walk ahead, into the driving
rain, neither sheltering your soul
nor blocking mine, your fine
hair a clotted wrath, leaving all
angles of good, confounded

Your hasty steps, in water
and weed leave me without
pads of synergy to touch,
I fail to grasp the distancing
story you once promised

And through the rain your
silhouette disappears to meet
another whose seeds don’t need
the scouring rock of me
I fall to my knees

no hope, germination

(Read more about Richard Satterlie here)

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3 Responses to “Midnight Poetry: “Scouring Rock””

  1. Stew Says:

    Rich, this is incredible. I think perhaps the best I’ve ever seen from you.

  2. William Haskins Says:

    the precision of the opening stanza did it for me, and i was pleased with the consistency of the imagery, poignant but not overwrought, throughout the entire piece.

    a pleasure to read and to share.

  3. Carol Says:

    Oh my god, that was beautiful.

    Carols last blog post..Ready for the Holidays!!!

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