We Are Rock Collectors

Photo by Tyler Milligan on Unsplash

we are rock collectors
carrying wisdom in sediment sifted
in our shirt baskets
we bask in metamorphosis
caterpillar to butterfly blue
we were young once, too

sometimes rocks are pebbles
little aha! moments that glitter in the pile
others are boulders stooping our backs
so low to the ground, back
to earth, willow trees
bend-not-breaking beneath
the weight of a hefty life lesson

we tire of playing Atlas to these
monolith stones
yet find ourselves grounded
roots stronger, growing
as we hold our own