Grey Obelisk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stone of massive solidness, shards of gemlike flint

Crystalline refractions flash in sunshine's noon-day glint,

Obelisk in grasses green, immense in grey repose

Has lain in place for centuries here, how long, nobody knows.

Created in the hellfire deep and thrust up from below

Molten in its’ infant form to flow with orange glow.

To work its’ way down mountain flank to plunge to cascade’s grasp

And tumble, grinding river stone, worn smooth in torrent’s clasp.

Rolling swift in flooded flow to beach by river’s edge

With grasses green against it’s’ girth in shade of leafy hedge.

Seasons come… cold rain and snow with baking heat in summer past

Millennia doth flow on by to leave untouched this boulder, vast.

 

Until this day I happened by, perchance beneath a clear blue sky

To rest my bones upon this rock, remove my boot and empty sock.

Admiring, in the midday sun, the snow clad peak and river run,

In wilderness of debris strewn from high volcano past it’s noon.

To notice with discerning gaze the rock, on which I sit, is glazed

With crystals of refracting fire to capture, now, my eye entire.

What secrets lie within this stone that lies so massively, alone?

What history has passed it by beneath its centuries of sky?

What stories could this boulder tell should I remove its silent spell?

 

Bemused, I tie my boot and yield,this obelisk to chosen field…..

 

 

Marshalg

On the timeless bank of Taranaki’s wild, wild Stoney River.

25 November 2013