In the burial grounds
where the Jews lay their departed
small stones are placed
on grave markers
by the hands of visitors.
It is their custom
this leaving of a stone
in mute evidence that someone
still cares... still remembers...
~~~
Where, my beloved Nation,
do I leave stones
for you?
Excerpts from "Bring Stones,"
by Isnala Mani.
Many thanks to Isnala, a Native American
not in blood, but in the Lakota spirit, for inspiration.
The natives of this land
may place their stones
beside the root of any tree,
on the bank of any river,
in the midst of any valley;
for they alone never claimed
to own it.
It never occurred to me
that the land belongs to no one.
Nor that,
by claiming to possess it,
we reduce ourselves
to a small plot in eternity..
the only place
in all of Creation
where we have any deluded right
to place a stone.
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