Stone and Water

She was beautiful but so alone, this woman who could turn to stone

Every day she would dance
With the waves at sea
All life and warmth
But at sight of anyone
At once she'd transform
Flesh to rock
Skin to stone

She was beautiful but so alone
No man could ever reach her
The woman who could turn to stone

Until the day
From the waves where she played
Rose the man who could turn to water

As she changed he changed
And trickled over her statued form
Flowed into her stony ears
And sang

You could stay like this forever, my dear
But I am in the tide that drags at your feet
And little by little it is pulling you in
And you can dance with me hand to hand
Or my waves can dance with you as swirling sand
But no matter where we dance
I only want to dance with you

And we could stay like this forever, my love
And I can soak into your pores
Until you crack, and from those cracks
Grow small forests of lichens and more
And together we'll be covered in life
But no matter how we are alive
I only want to live with you

The stone woman said nothing
For stone never speaks
But the man of water still sang
As water over rocks often does

He sang of her lonely life on the shore
And his own life lost in the waves
Of how he wished they could meet
Like the ocean meets the beach

You can stay like this forever, my friend
He finally whispered then
And I can leave you here
I won't dance with you
Or live with you
Or see you again
But even stone must move in the end

He began to leave her, but even as he spoke
The statue shook and cracks appeared
And of the water that ran off her face
Not all was him - some was tears

Her stony heart began to beat again
Pumping blood like rivers through her veins
And life, like water, flowed through her
As she could finally feel again

So the woman who could turn to stone
The man who could turn to water
Faced one another
As flesh and blood and skin and bone
And lived and danced in the waves together

Reviews

[Tina Kline]

Fantastic! Incredible. A very romantic and tender love poem of two lonely people who find each other and find love in the ocean. Love this one a lot!

[LisetteCanWrite!]

Wow.. this one is a great story of 2 most unlikely sources coming together and finding love. There certainly are some people out in this world who do appear to be made of stone.. and metaphorically speaking you captured this wonderfully as the outer core of stone is shed for this woman! Love the last 2 stanzas simply because it represents a happy ending even though I don't believe in fairy tales:

Her stony heart began to beat again
Pumping blood like rivers through her veins
And life, like water, flowed through her
As she could finally feel again

So the woman who could turn to stone
The man who could turn to water
Faced one another
As flesh and blood and skin and bone
And lived and danced in the waves together

The dancing in the waves together really paints a nice vision... and turning them to flesh and bone! Good work .. keep it up!!! =)