Ode to a Stone
Oh thou cold and lonely place.
Where stones resemble
a loved one’s face.
Where the reading of a name
awakens a memory and a pain.
Many tears have hit thy face;
How many thoughts dost thou embrace?
Is thy ground still damp from tears
and sorrows lasting.
And when mine fall on thy rocky face;
Oh! I wonder how they’ll taste?
Canst thou tell them from the rain
or shall my tears fall forever,
amid the pouring rain.
1959