Sign up to EliteSkills

Lucky stones of quartz
on the beigey-silty dust
of Ohio’s rural roads
found piled in the ditches
where the Tiger Lillies live
and the Queen Anne’s Lace takes root
without an eye or hand of man,
but by the robins and the crows
that frequent all the swimmin’ holes
around.

Gravel to the workingman
with limestone, granite, dolomite
to keep the rain from washing ‘way
the road that few will travel on.
Remains unpaved for all these years,
since not a soul has walked this way
or near, or within twenty miles,
(well no one of great consequence
according to the measure-marks
of nowadays)

But child, you will see the stones
that shimmer in the hottest sun,
and by the lilies and the lace
you’ll bend to look at earth’s great gem,
the lucky stones that fill the gullies
of Ohio’s rural roads,
and you’ll wipe the dust away
with a little spin and shine,
then you'll have a treasure fine
to keep.