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Balancing Stones

 

Center of gravity:  the single point in a body

toward which every particle of matter external

to the body is gravitationally attracted

                                    Webster’s Dictionary

 

I have seen

ordinary hands

able to place

one stone upon another

no matter how

different the shapes

or unlikely

the weights

 

What holds them

together

is some center

invisible to the eye

only realized

when the hands

are patient

and trust is complete

 

How else

to explain

their creating

stone sculptures

with no nails

or cement

no welding tools

for support

 

The tip

of a craggy stone

becomes the unlikely

pin able to steady

the heft of a rounder

stone whose surface

is curving

and smooth

 

On the sloping

top of one shore stone

a second leans without slipping

the third smaller and jagged

then the large oval

to form a tower

undisturbed

by sea breeze

 

There is a locus

some hands can find

a single point

in the body

to which another

separate body

is gravitationally

attracted

 

I have seen

such harmony

rooted in the impossible

position of two stones’ hearts

no matter how oblique

the angle

one center holding

firmly to the other

 

            Amy Uyematsu