Three Poems

Some Rocks Remember

I consider induced rocks to have Alzheimers. They are the rocks that forgot where they were born and how to get home.

– Prof. Suzanne McEnroe, Norwegian University of Sciences and Technology, Trondheim


Some rocks remember where north was
when they were formed. The poles wander
about the world, and you can track
their paths in haematite, magnetite,
that answer no compass, because they carry
the printout of how things used to be.
Remanant, they are called; they don’t change
with the times.


                     The others, the less constant,
realign themselves, fall into step
with the magnetic field, reflect the now,
the new. The knowledge of where they began
is gone, or buried where they can’t come at it.
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