Friday 6 February 2009

Solitary stone in snow

Solitary stone
Stands alone
Still
A lone monolith in the snow. However this stone is not out at Avebury or the Marlborough Downs but very close to where I live near a town centre. It feels like 'my' stone and I suspect no one else cares about, or even notices it, as old stones have a way of becoming invisible. I know nothing of the stone's history except that it is ancient and probably local sandstone. It stands on the side of a hill in a small Victorian cemetery - I do not know if it stood there before the land became a cemetery or whether it was placed there subsequently. It is in fact aligned with the morning sunrise (though this could be coincidental) and I haven't been able to test whether there is particular significance to certain times of year such as midsummer, as the hillside cemetery is surrounded by Victorian streets and houses. The stone is still, and holds fast its secrets.
Sand and Water
Solid stone is just sand and water ......
Sand and water and a million years gone by .....
I will see you in the light of a thousand suns
I will hear you in the sound of waves .....
(Beth Nielson Chapman)
People are often flawed; we pursue goals with single-minded determination until one day something happens to wake us up and see the beauty of nature around us. One day we wake up and to our surprise we are no longer young and, as with some ancient stones, we find we have become less visible.
But old stones can survive thousands if not millions of years; they deserve our homage.

Location of the lone stone

A peaceful little cemetery, also designated as a local nature reserve - today covered in virgin snow ..... and silence. When the snow finally melts the wild primroses will appear.