4.5.14

Today's prompt was to write a "golden shovel," where the end word of each line is a word from another poem, in order (see here http://www.napowrimo.net/ for a longer explanation if that doesn't do it for you).  I picked William Carlos Williams' poem "Poem" (read it here: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/poem-as-the-cat/) as my starting poem.  My prompt word for poem and photo was "stone."  These shots were taken at the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend, IA (one more link for the interested: http://www.westbendgrotto.com/). 

Cornfield Shrine
(Golden Shovel After William Carlos Williams’ “Poem”)

It rises out of bare spring earth, silent as
the curvy roads that lead the
way there. No gates, no admission. The Cat-
-holics don’t lock out the faithful. We climbed
the stairs to the summit, looked out over
rambling spires and statues tucked in the
cool corners, ice still sucking their ankles. At the top,
the cross and the pieta. Below, manmade caves of

hand-placed stone cup the
last of winter’s chill inside. Like a row of jamclosets,
the stations of the cross from first
to final stand in stately file, the
story told in cut-rock mosaic. To the right,
the serpent waits with Adam and Eve, before foot-

paths lead us farther down, carefully
navigating stairs wet with meltwater. Then
we find ourselves in the dim belly of the
shine, cavelike, cherub-crusted. Tucked behind
white statues, silk roses with tags. I stepped
closer to read one: written down,

prayers of "keep him safe in Iraq" recede into
the quiet strength of the stones, the
sparkle of quartz, smoothness of agate and petrified wood pit-
-ted with rainwater from millions of
years ago absorbing it all, soaking in the
wishes of the faithful, filling empty
space with hope that charges the air, flower-
s in stone and shell, marking this spot.