Peter Newton

Two Rocks

On end perhaps hewn by the sheer force of ice
and time perhaps calved one from the other
like a long-married couple ancient in their bones
gravity getting the better of them until leaning
one into another they manage to remain upright
survivors solid for the next thousand millennia
stoically in love as in all things monumental.

speak of the dead
the crazed lettering
of window frost

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Notes:

Ekphrastic haibun based on “Two Rocks”—Irish black marble (1971) by Barbara Hepworth © Bowness. Image used by permission. To learn more about Barbara Hepworth’s work, go to https://barbarahepworth.org.uk/.

“speak of the dead” previously appeared in Glide Path (Red Moon Press, 2022).

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About the Author

Peter Newton is the author of several books in the Japanese short form traditions of haiku, haibun, and tan renga. His newest book of haiku is Glide Path (Red Moon Press, 2022), and his most recent collection of haibun is Part-Time Gods (Snapshot Press, 2022).