A Full Day's Labor Poem by Irene Mitchell

When splitting a rock,
one must soften first
its interior until the exterior
no longer has anything to cling to.

This action will reveal
the rock's pattern of existence,
its proposed plan for the good life lived
above ground's glory.

Gathering all split rocks in the repository,
build a low rock wall
and live your own good life in your own private
Sylvania.

If from those woods
in a surround of silence
comes a doe to eat your day lilies, show no surprise
for she cannot see how eating
should offend.