~JEANINE STEVENS~

THE MEANING OF MONOLITHS

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Woodhenge, predates stone, 
made of oak, chunks
of timber, felled, bark
stripped, shaped from trees
near the river Avon
—the dancing, music, circles
worshiped in time, until
only rotted stumps survive.
Eventually made of stone,
some monoliths expertly
crafted, others misshapen
or barely altered.
Prehistorians say Stonehenge
preserves in stone a fossil
of a vanished wood technique.
I travel to Avebury.  If you
want beauty, come on a clear
night in winter, see pale
granite form pink shadows
on white snow.  But most
come in misty sunrise, ogle
the heel stone, won't ask
the meaning of starlight,
and why so much is wasted. 
 

© by Jeanine Stevens