Stoned
Diana Aghabegian

and i fall

            hard
            hard
            hard

as a stone off a roof,
and land in the garden

cold,
alone,
silent,
deadly,
desire.

dependent on weather
i am cold
i am hot
i am dry
i am wet

i am alone in my
stoicism,

one neverchanging shape
sitting in the garden.

the lonely backyard full of stones

who long to be as the grass,
growing tall, laughing in the wind,
carefree,
moving easily,
sharing the world with
bugs,
laughing with
birds,
chatting with
squirrels,
drinking in
water,
reeling drunk on
dew.

but i stay in one place.

i cannot laugh,
i cannot chat,
i cannot drink.

no one shares my world
except the occasional lizard,
who uses my heat,
my passion,
my desire,
satisfies himself, and runs
to the friendlier, softer grass
for a better time.

i am alone, unable to speak to the
others, like me,
sitting in the garden.

Diana Aghabegian teaches English at SMC.