Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

#WRITEPHOTO – The Secret in the Stone

For visually challenged writers, the image shows a stone or a tomb with a key-like inscription but no words upon it.

Earth holds many mysteries
None more so than the stone I stand before
It does not belong here.
It’s one half of a door to an ancient mausoleum
a copy. Now hiding a secret bound by time
they lie beneath, arms entwined
they no longer dream in colour, their hour has passed
they wait for a certain kind of magic
that he can bring when he returns
to wake, to walk the cliffs they once called home
for now, their bones lie cold, wrapped in earth
the monk’s chatter, asking if they can bring back a legend
to hold the people together, to give them more
than the dry crumbs that life offers
so many years later, we stand and wonder about the dry bones
that lie beneath the cold black stone…

© Anita Dawes 2021