Off to skip stones!

A great plan for today from the wisdom of Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer!

How Things Change

At the edge of the lake, the rocks

are deep gray and unusually flat,

perfect for skipping, even for a woman

known for her lack of skill in throwing.

There’s such freedom in breaking through

an old story. On a day when so much

seems fixed, beyond my control, I thrill

in skipping rocks again and again.

Sometimes it’s hard to see what is possible.

Once, these rocks were a layer of silt.

Once, this shore was the bottom of an ocean.

Once, there was a girl who was told

she couldn’t throw. Once there was a country

with citizens who forgot how to work together.

Whatever we will become is, even now,

being prepared inside us. All morning,

polished bits of shale fly from my hand to leap

across the surface of the lake. I watch them

find lift again, again, leaving rings

that sparkle in the sun, a momentary proof

of how sometimes the story we think

we know is not yet done with its changes.

—Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer