Skipping Stones
Skipping Stones
Original Text
Sachiko Murakami. The Invisibility Exhibit. Vancouver, British Colombia: Talonbooks, 2008.
1I fling flat stones into the surf, corral
2my anger in the strangely angled pose.
3Each beat’s concentric blip a sound so odd
4it clarifies the brine to mellow blues.
5My mother’s ex once skimmed his bottle caps
6down at the lake; not littering, I thought,
7the glinting disc’s fourteen discrete hop-hops.
8Now I trust black, the solid strength of rock.
9My hand must learn the pebble’s weight, and know
10which chips will change the shape and spoil the trick;
11this can’t be accurately guessed, and though
12some seem to work without my gauging it;
13I fling them to new ocean bottom homes,
14and some I leave to dry upon the beach. Skip stones.
RPO poem Editors
Jim Johnstone
RPO Edition
2013
Form
Special Copyright
Poem used with permission of the author.