Stories stored in stone
venture out through cracks of bitter cold;
with clarity, giddy like breath
they step into now.
Grandfathers
blasted awake in fire
cover tumult’s wake with wisdom.
Time’s winds will eventually erode faces into pillars—
six grandfathers watching.
Practice.
Still yourself and listen;
their voices linger deep within granite
forced from Earth.
Brenda Warren 2012
Six Grandfathers from Wikimedia Commons
The Six Grandfathers is what the Lakota called Mount Rushmore. If you are interested, this article fueled my writing.
Visit The Sunday Whirl.
undercaws 
Brenda, lovely first line. I like how you wove geology terms and ideas into this. Fire and igneous rock, granite, and I love how wisdom came after the fire. Thank you for sharing this one.
Richard
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ah, yes…I knew I knew this story. well writ – it captures the outrage, softly.
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It’s nice to be back writing again. Thank you all for your insight and kind words. I’m thrilled that some of you chose to read the article. It’s a good one.
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Amazing article too. Thanks for including the link. One can only hope for justice. I wonder if the mountain cried as it was carved….
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Thanks, Jules, I like your thinking.
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I think mountains hold treasures beyond measure. A wonderful wise tale.
Thank you for your visit.
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Ah, I love this. I feel a deep connection to old mountains like these. The line, ‘their voices linger deep within granite,’ to me, offers hope. It’s also a strong piece of imagery. I’m off to read the article! Thank you, for the poem, the words, you being around.
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Thanks, Margo. It’s good to be around.
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Really beautiful, Brenda. I hope to get to Mt. Rushmore someday. I like your “angle.”
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The idea of your poem is marvellous, Brenda. Stone becoming story, earthy and all.
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I’d love to hear some of the stories they store.
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Story first: interesting, and aroused my curiosity.
Poem: utterly absorbing, so much so that until I reached the end, I had no idea that you’d been using the wordle words!
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What a wonderful tribute – to the Lakota, to the fathers, to the stones and the stories therein … this made me read and re-read and then go to the article … I love it when that happens Brenda. Good stuff.
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I enjoyed the idea of “voices that linger deep within the granite” 🙂
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For me, this is an amazing piece of synchronicity. I have long believed that stones hold stories and will share them with anyone willing to get quiet and lean in to listen. Your poem warmed my heart and confirmed, for me, that I’m presently in the right place, doing the right thing. Thank you. I also went to the link you provided, and although I knew some of that story, I felt it much more strongly after reading your poem.
Elizabeth
http://soulsmusic.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/living-lesson/
PS I am currently reading my first Morning Pages, written almost twenty years ago, and am sharing bits and pieces of that on my site: http://1sojournal.wordpress.com/ That is the activity you confirmed with your words. Thanks so much Brenda.
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Yay! A poem from you. I like the idea of the stories in stone, Brenda. I have visited Mt. Rushmore and it was awe inspiring. Love what you did with the words, which this week seem to have brought a very meditative way of writing.
Pamela
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I like the idea of the stories contained in the stones.
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