The sisters of stone wend their way in a line one after another
the sisters of stone walk across the hollow lake
quieten their legs on the dry drowned bridge
listening they prayer their fingertips
around the cupped whim stones
that hold neither blood nor milk nor oil
the young 3-legged red hart
tells them another song of wounds
of how we are all wounded
of how we can all still be free
he leaps across the broken stone wall – boundless
the stone house that has no roof
talks of lungs and breath
of how the world is hard to inhale
of how she yearns for autumn rain
of how the Reed moon will refill the lake
the Canadian geese gathering in gaggles
talk of skeining across a wider water
of how they wedge the sky open
of how they fly one after another in a perfect V
of how on ground they waddle like featherless stones
the sisters of stone each pick up a stone and a feather
they hold both to their ears – listen
Rosie Hadden was short listed for the Rialto Nature and Place Competition 2023 and won the Teignmouth Open Competition 2022. She is working towards her first pamphlet.