A poem 65-years in the making . . . my response to the Armstrong Family anthem. (Thanks to Kathy Cowan and George Drury whose beautiful summer home in Maine I was staying at when the first glimmer of a line appeared!)

Rough Stones

Tis a gift to be broken

tis a gift to be dumb

tis a gift to consent to

whatever else may come

for when we find ourselves

in the cauldron at night

‘twill be for the cooking

of soul into light

When true

complexity is gained

to morph and emerge

we will not be ashamed

to burn, to learn,

will bring us to ground

til by turning, learning

we come right round.

R. Armstrong, 2019

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