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Pounding Stone with Pestles

bassin

00:00 / 04:04

POUNDING STONE NEAR CAMPGROUND

Hurling a pine cone at my brother,
I reeled through brittle needles to hide
behind a huge stone at the edge
of the forest: I was the cowboy,

and he was the Indian. As I leaped up
to fling a pebble, I glimpsed smooth cups
in the stone, two of which brimmed with humus.
"Stop!" I screeched as my brother

pelted me with pine cones. "You're
dead! Told you! I'm the cowboy!"
he jeered. Dizzy, I felt a little like I
was going to fall into another life.

"Boys!" Dad shouted from the campground,
snapping me back to the humus. "Time
to go to the lake!" But I couldn't move
from the strange stone at the edge of the forest.

Finally, Dad ambled over. "What
is this?" I asked. "Mud people
lived here," he muttered. "Time to go!"
"Where are the mud people? Where

did they go?" I wondered out loud, but he
didn't answer. For a moment I
was afraid, as he strode farther
and farther ahead of me, that I

might be one of the mud people,
and I froze, alone
between the strange stone
and the small boat on the distant shore.

Pestle on a Pounding Stone

farhey

00:00 / 04:29

HOOPS

I shoved the ball toward the hoop
with all my might, missing by two or three feet.
The third shot, the ball hovered on the rim,
then dropped in. My brother punched my arm,

and my father cheered. I dashed into the house
to announce that I had made a basket. On TV,
fire was consuming a cross-legged man in an orange robe
as traffic swirled around him. Sobbing,

I flung myself outside. "Why would a man
light himself on fire?" I bleated. My uncle
stepped into the doorway: "The boy just needs
to get used to it." (My Dad told me later

that my uncle's plane was shot down,
and my uncle still woke up at night
screaming.) My brother bounced the ball.
My Dad draped his arm around me for a moment,

then sauntered over to my uncle to ask what
had caused the outburst. Then they all went inside.
I paced the driveway for awhile, then grabbed
the ball, shooting again and again until I made it in.

Pestles on a Pounding Stone

epistl

00:00 / 04:09

TETHER BALL AT RECESS

The tether ball chains chimed at the beginning
of recess, but we hung out under the monkey bars. I
was the disputed tether ball champion, but my friend
refused to play, no matter how much I urged him.

My friend finally told me the reason: As his cousin
was riding his bike through the park near
the rioting, a cop pulled him down and beat him.
"He's only twelve years old. He wasn't hurting anyone:

Why would they do that?" "I don't know," I mourned--
"C'mon, let's play tether ball!" He turned away, "I can't.
My parents told me I can't be with white people anymore
because you just can't trust 'em." I shouted over

the ringing chains, "But I didn't hurt your cousin!"
Squinting and sweating, he just shook his head
at everything I said as fists kept thudding and the balls
kept whirling. I never played tether ball again.

Columbine above a Stream

kings

00:00 / 04:12

THE SECRET

The old woman, rolling away
on a stretcher, clawed the air,
leaving goo an inch deep
in her frying pan, a sink
and counter conquered
by crusty dishes, countless
bottles on the windowsills,
and the odor of cat deep
in the ratty carpet. Timeless, I once
stared at the heart-shaped leaves
of a coleus, my grandmother timeless too
as she washed dishes in a patch
of morning sunlight before my mother
returned. The dog and turtle
at home shared the secret
with the toad, the swallow,
the columbine, the tiny creek
in the neighborhood, before
I was called back and scolding
broke the spell. I was afraid
of the war like everyone, sure
that it would drag on
until my time came, but then I forgot,
waking to the alarm clock
so that I could see my father home
from work before I got ready
for school. I believed then
that we had a chance
to forget the clock--I believed even
that we could conquer those
who fed us time--we could
because we knew we were
a family that included
the turtle and the dog, the toad
and the minnow, and we could see
the secret in each other's eyes--
gazing hard a long time
because we had to.

Mystical Tarot Realms

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Pounding Stone with Pestles

POUNDING STONE NEAR CAMPGROUND

Hurling a pine cone at my brother,
I reeled through brittle needles to hide
behind a huge stone at the edge
of the forest: I was the cowboy,

Pestle on a Pounding Stone

HOOPS

I shoved the ball toward the hoop
with all my might, missing by two or three feet.
The third shot, the ball hovered on the rim,
then dropped in. My brother punched my arm,

Pestles on a Pounding Stone

TETHER BALL AT RECESS

The tether ball chains chimed at the beginning
of recess, but we hung out under the monkey bars. I
was the disputed tether ball champion, but my friend
refused to play, no matter how much I urged him.

Columbine above a Stream

THE SECRET

All poems, stories, illustrations, and music Copyright © 2024 by Jim Robbins.

Pounding Stone with Pestles

POUNDING STONE NEAR CAMPGROUND

Hurling a pine cone at my brother, I reeled through brittle needles to hide behind a huge stone at the edge of the forest: I was the cowboy,

Pestle on a Pounding Stone

HOOPS

I shoved the ball toward the hoop with all my might, missing by two or three feet. The third shot, the ball hovered on the rim, then dropped in. My brother punched my arm,

Pestles on a Pounding Stone

TETHER BALL AT RECESS

The tether ball chains chimed at the beginning of recess, but we hung out under the monkey bars. I was the disputed tether ball champion, but my friend refused to play, no matter how much I urged him.

Columbine above a Stream

THE SECRET

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All poems, stories, illustrations, and music Copyright © 2024 by Jim Robbins.

Hurling a pine cone at my brother,
I reeled through brittle needles to hide
behind a huge stone at the edge
of the forest: I was the cowboy,

I shoved the ball toward the hoop
with all my might, missing by two or three feet.
The third shot, the ball hovered on the rim,
then dropped in. My brother punched my arm,

The tether ball chains chimed at the beginning
of recess, but we hung out under the monkey bars. I
was the disputed tether ball champion, but my friend
refused to play, no matter how much I urged him.