Egg-Shaped Stone with Crack

Above: Soybean field, my photo, October 4, 2020

October 5, 2020

THE EGG-SHAPED STONE WITH CRACK

My feet planted either side
of a row of soybeans
I stand in the field awaiting harvest
In cold early October sun.

Long sight lines of withered stalks
Remind me of Arlington
Saying I don’t belong here.

But I’ve come looking.

For stones.

I’ve wondered all summer
What the soybeans were hiding
Their ownership of the field
Too dense to penetrate.

But now… well, it’s me, and the stones.
I’m not talking about ownership.
Just the visible.

A glacier covered this Illinois field once,
And left behind stones.
Colored stones from different places.
Like Minnesota…
That stone was half red, half black, one side magnetic, the other not,
Jasper and iron ore.

What will I find today?
I found a egg shaped stone with a crack
That just fits the palm of my hand
And gives me something to hold onto
As I walk on.

(Sue Anderson)

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