Stone by Charles Simic

Stone by Charles Simic

  ​STONE            by Charles Simic

Go inside a stone.
That would be my way.
Let somebody else become a dove
Or gnash with a tiger’s tooth.
I am happy to be a stone.

From the outside the stone is a riddle:
No one knows how to answer it.
Yet within, it must be cool and quiet
Even though a cow steps on it full weight,
Even though a child throws it in a river;The
stone sinks,slow, unperturbed
To the river bottom
Where the fishes come to knock on it
And listen.

I have seen sparks fly out When
two stones are rubbed,
So perhaps it is not dark inside after all;
Perhaps there is a moon shining
From somewhere, as though behind a hill - -Just
enough light to make out
The strange writings, the star-charts
On the inner walls.