“Named after Angela the partner of the person who discovered the stone”
For Ken
when you say you are exploring
trail I see a wolf
who calms me
eases my constrictions
steady and attentive
leading but always
returning to the pack
your back:
stones blending into water
eyes changing from brown to green
unearthly sparkle
shoulders under a harvest moon
carrying such weight to the fire
the cracks unfathomable : you make a home in margins
of minutes
time slows in the forest
we don’t even know the day
just dirt under nails
the smell of cool blue dusk
notice a subtle quality
four feet trample and dance
only the trees watch
you paw the dirt down
teeth sharpening the night
*
Note: words in italics taken from Essential Guide to Crystals by Simon and Sue Lilly, 2006, 2010, and 2018. published by Watkins Media Limited. United Kingdom.
*
J. MacBain-Stephens lives in the Midwest and is the author of four full length poetry collections: “Your Best Asset is a White Lace Dress,” (Yellow Chair Press, 2016) “The Messenger is Already Dead,” (Stalking Horse Press, 2017,) “We’re Going to Need a Higher Fence,” tied for first place in the 2017 Lit Fest Book Competition, and “The Vitamix and the Murder of Crows,” is recently out from Apocalypse Party. Work has been nominated for Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize. Recent work can be seen at or is forthcoming from The Pinch, Black Lawrence Press, Quiddity, Prelude, Cleaver, Yalobusha Review, Zone 3, and Grist.
