to be a rock
(to be) between a rock and a home place
to (practice) be(ing) a rock
to practice being a rock
acknowledge three things
there are multiple forms of knowing
your own forms of knowing
and lithic forms of knowing
softly
be on the ground and in your body
be as long and light as possible and breathe
be as dense as possible and breathe
and feel your permeability
as you breathe billion year old air
pumping through blood
with billion year old iron
the caused a star to explode
trillions of miles away
imagine your body was once liquid
formed through extreme heat and pressure
and from the bodies of other bodies
billions of years before you
pushed from subterranean to terrain
softened through millions of years
millions of seasons
millions of rains, winds, freezes, thaws
and millions of lichen kin
you cracked away from your family
millions of years ago
and flowed down hill
now you've been still for millions years
sitting, watching, listening,
softening, shrinking
you commune
(in the original sense
of "change" and "with")
with the mountain in which you grew
and the sands and stones
that grew from you
it takes a hundred years to form a thought
thousands of years to speak a word
decades to breathe in and out
once
notice the tension between your rock body
and your flesh body
notice your breath
notice it's constant change
and omnipresence
notice where it starts to hurt
and stay with that
gently
notice your thoughts
in geologic time
and let them pass
slowly
acknowledge three things
you are here
so is everybody else
anything could be an anybody
practice being a body
acknowledge three things
there are multiple forms of knowing
your own forms of knowing
and lithic forms of knowing
softly
be on the ground and in your body
be as long and light as possible and breathe
be as dense as possible and breathe
and feel your permeability
as you breathe billion year old air
pumping through blood
with billion year old iron
the caused a star to explode
trillions of miles away
imagine your body was once liquid
formed through extreme heat and pressure
and from the bodies of other bodies
billions of years before you
pushed from subterranean to terrain
softened through millions of years
millions of seasons
millions of rains, winds, freezes, thaws
and millions of lichen kin
you cracked away from your family
millions of years ago
and flowed down hill
now you've been still for millions years
sitting, watching, listening,
softening, shrinking
you commune
(in the original sense
of "change" and "with")
with the mountain in which you grew
and the sands and stones
that grew from you
it takes a hundred years to form a thought
thousands of years to speak a word
decades to breathe in and out
once
notice the tension between your rock body
and your flesh body
notice your breath
notice it's constant change
and omnipresence
notice where it starts to hurt
and stay with that
gently
notice your thoughts
in geologic time
and let them pass
slowly
acknowledge three things
you are here
so is everybody else
anything could be an anybody
practice being a body
images by Tommy Bruce
to be a rock
sometimes i want to be a rock and i can't remember how
got rocks in your head
people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones
cast the first stone
heart of stone
sticks and stones may break my bones
everybody must get stoned
get your rocks off
on the rocks
between a rock and a hard place
hit rock bottom
on a rocky road
sink like a stone
a stone's throw away
hellfire and brimstone
nose to the grindstone
leave no stone unturned
drop like a stone
rolling stone gathers no moss
constant dropping wears away a stone
two birds with one stone
etched in stone
stone cold
stone faced
stone sober
stone dead
stepping stone
cast the first stone
heart of stone
sticks and stones may break my bones
everybody must get stoned
get your rocks off
on the rocks
between a rock and a hard place
hit rock bottom
on a rocky road
sink like a stone
a stone's throw away
hellfire and brimstone
nose to the grindstone
leave no stone unturned
drop like a stone
rolling stone gathers no moss
constant dropping wears away a stone
two birds with one stone
etched in stone
stone cold
stone faced
stone sober
stone dead
stepping stone
to be (with) a rock
