Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, STONE INTO ROSE, by FRANK ERNEST HILL



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

STONE INTO ROSE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Beside the paved street dig a place for roots
Last Line: Back to the earth in rain to feed a rose.
Subject(s): Flowers; Roses; Stones; Granite; Rocks


Beside the paved street dig a place for roots;
Pump out the water, break the rock with drills
Until another cube of granite shoots
Up from this earth that once was trees and hills.
Lift a hard stalk to bear you wheels and square
Blossoms of paper, wood, and ordered words;
I'll break the earth to launch a rosebush where
Nothing shall shadow it but wind-spun birds.
Your stone and glass, being hard, will crumble down,
Gnawed by the teeth of rats, the feet of men;
Stone makes good dust, and once being overthrown,
Scatters no seed that comes to growth again;
Unless, sucked up by wind, at last it goes
Back to the earth in rain to feed a rose.





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