Two Poems by Dr. Charles A. Stone

 

MORNING RITUALS

 

Dawn breaks the resolve

of night with a quick gallop

over a ridge where everything

is painted orange:

valley, sheds, the herds.

 

A rancher, awake since stars shut

their twinkling eyes,

pauses near a creek and whistles

for his favourite Blue Healer.

 

Together, they flank the meadows,

to the kitchen where the Missus

is busy with bacon, fried potatoes & eggs;

and a pot of hot coffee sits on the table

 

where the rancher settles in for morning

benediction and conversation between a man

unsure of his place in the world and a woman

whose assurance is his resurrection.

 

 

FAIR SHARE

 

Late at night

when addicts fall

from lofty perches

of their lives,

lost in agony

they cannot share,

the moon and stars

clasp hands

above rippling streets

and shiver

in the cold wind,

and cries of remorse

echo against

empty buildings

that line alleys

lit only by anger

that seeps from cracked windows

of lofts where thieves

gather

to smoke and argue

about their share

of the dark.

 

After S.C. Flynn’s Their Share of the Dark

 

 

The pseudonymous Dr. Charles A. Stone (born in Green Bay, Wisconsin) holds doctoral degrees from Marquette University and Johns Hopkins University. He has authored more than 150 scientific articles and contributed to two dozen medical textbooks. His poetry has appeared in poetry journals, anthologies, and other publications. He has also edited six poetry anthologies and served on the Board of the Austin International Poetry Festival. This father of two and grandfather of seven, lives in San Antonio with his alter ego and wife of more than 50 years.