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From W. S. Merwin's poem about a stone-mason working on a Byzantine church. Five beats.

lyrics

Beginning you woke in a stone-carved house
you went on a stone-cold floor
you warmed yourself by the stone fireplace
and big stones held up the door
in the window the sky passed between stones
and your feet followed stones out the door
in the light the field turned over was stones
and from under the stone water poured

Within the stone there was a face
but darkness put her down
still when you worked you knew
there was one more face to be found

Some of the stones had fish inside them
some of the fish had fish inside
some of the stones had words inside them
and some were just stones

When finished, you'd carved a house of stone
all stone the hand and the sun
all stone the past and the time to come
and stone the face in the moon
you showed the stone limbs of youth and age
the stone walls of heaven and hell
you showed the stone-naked mother of all
but forgot what she knew in her smile

Within the stone there was a smile
but darkness put her down
still when you worked you knew
there was one more smile to be found

Some of the stones had words inside them
some of the words had words inside
some of the stones had deer inside them
and some were just stones

credits

from THE RAIN TAKES OFF HER CLOTHES: Post​-​Hiatus Global Jazz Songs, released February 2, 1998

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Tom Ross Colorado Springs, Colorado

Music, art, poetry spoken here!

As E Dickinson says:

Nature is what we know
but have no art to say
so impotent our wisdom is
to her simplicity

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