Pedras antigas

Discreet Illumination

Is there any stone
so hard and worn
that cannot be
by a blossom torn?
Is there anything
we would call real
that should not
in tenderness true
tears feel?
Are there words
that fish might sing
Would they and we
in chorus ring?
Below the surface
sinks the bait.
When the tenor bites,
it’s for all too late.

Dr T.P. Wilkinson writes, teaches History and English, directs theatre and coaches cricket between the cradles of Heine and Saramago. He is also the author of Church Clothes, Land, Mission and the End of Apartheid in South Africa. Read other articles by T.P..