31: Time Issue

Back to Sand: At the Monastery of San Felix de Oca

By

October 17, 2019

Swallows dart through open window holes,

in a hurry to make their summer nests.

Eager grass sprouts among broken rocks,

fallen bits of mortar turning slowly back to sand.

A tomb remains, a name inscribed in stone,

honoring love lost a thousand years ago.

We mouth the words, marvel at three tenacious snails,

clinging to wet grass spears—

just beginning to shake in rising wind,

black clouds mobbing to drench us yet again.

We pull our jackets close around our chests,

and journey on.

About the Author

Laura Foley
Laura Foley has authored six collections, including WTF and Night Ringing. Her poem “Gratitude List” won the Common Good Books contest and was read on The Writer’s Almanac, and her poem “Nine Ways of Looking at Light” won the Gouveia Contest, which was judged by Marge Piercy. A hospice volunteer, Foley lives with her wife and two dogs among the Vermont hills. Last spring they hiked the five-hundred-mile Camino de Santiago across Spain, often in the rain.