Small Stones

What is a Small Stone?

A small stone is a short piece of writing that captures a moment of awareness, a moment of proper attention to one thing. There is no correct way to write them, they can take the set form of something such as a Haiku, be free verse or simply a prose statement. I first began to write them after discovering Fiona Robyn’s website ‘A Small Stone’ here. If you would like to find out more about writing small stones check out ‘How to Write Small Stones’ here.

I try to write a small stone every day. I find they help to get the creative juices flowing, help me to think poetically, so mine are usually more like short poems than prose. Some of them might eventually grow into longer poems. Below you will find some examples of my small stones. I regularly post my stones on my Blog ‘By The Wobbly Dum-Dum Tree’ which you can visit here.

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Small Stones:
Please note these are copyright of Elizabeth Leaper and should not be reproduced without permission or due acknowledgement.

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The wind blows
and the Silver Birches
dance to the melody.

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Rain drips dismally on drab gardens
dressed in dull browns and greens.
But wait! — over the fence,
one big, bold, shocking pink plant pot!

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On my window, in the sun
the cobweb glistens like silver,
Faery-spun into the finest thread,
rainbow-hued and rippling in the breeze.

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Some days,
however hard you paddle,
the current is just too strong.

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A regiment of clouds,
resplendent in grey livery,
marches purposefully across the sky
at the command of the wind.

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Harvesting lavender
the aroma covers my hands
like gloves.

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Caught in the beam of the headlights
leaves scuttle across the road
like mice.

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Against the pallor of the evening sky
a lone chimney breathes a steady plume
of grey smoke into the cold, still air.
Out of sight around the hearth a family keeps warm.

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