The story of stone
Read by rough hands.
Assess its personality.
Each stone has a different story to tell.

This rock was dug out of soil to make a field.
Before they became part of a boundary.
Before that years of pressure 
Earth upon earth.
And water trickling through sediment.

This rock used to sit in the shade of a giant hemlock.
Used to watch children kick a yellow ball.
Before that knew the dark places of the earth.
Everything soft eroded.
It is what remains.
Forged in the furnace of the earth.
The blacksmith’s name long forgetten.

The mineral vein.
The sediment.
Time frozen stone.

These men faces like the rocks they study
And move about with machines and bare hands 
Impossible strength.
Worn down from days in the sun.
Rough hands handle with care.
Place each stone carefully
To build this garden.