I Have Gone Marking
by J. Oscar Polanco

    I have gone marking your pathways with white stones
    so that I may know when you are not with me
    where you go when I am not there.

    I lie them side by side, far apart.
    I lie them softly so you will know I care.

    Everyday I go placing them:
    Everyday you are someplace new.

    Today I led them to the riverbank,
       only the sand so that you would not be scared.
    Today I spread them across the fields I passed,
    today they lie all day in the sun,
       they lie endless as the fields.


    I have gone marking your pathways with white stones.
    They are scattered across horizon and season.
    They lead from the streets to where only my soul has slept.
    They cross from magnolia to the memory,
    from the dew to where your smiles bless the walls.

    And they lie endless as the fields.






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