I feel relatively young

Among great slabs of granite

Their windows of mica seeing the past

From whence came these behemoths

Some basaltic and brooding?

Their calendar does not abide by yours

Measured in millions of lifetimes

Yet the beach only in thousands

The wind the current the tide

Beholden to the ancient moon

Take their measure

Hold the waves up like blue glass cups

Not breaking them till

They can hold no longer

Crashing onto the quartz moraine

Sparkling with golden jingle shells

Waves surge onto the stone-faced boulder

That will not change visage in my lifetime

To it I give up my burdens

Release the stones around my neck

Glacial boulder: restore my youth

Wave: bathe my spirit

Wind: make my soul flutter

And take flight

BARBARA ANN BRANCA, whose work has been published in numerous anthologies, is a performance poet, science author and educator who has read poems from her chapbook, FLASH FLOOD, on National Public Radio and venues throughout NYC and Long Island. Barbara is also an accomplished jazz singer.