Friday, August 23, 2013

Stories


We recently took the kids to a dinosaur dig.
An activity put on by a local community forestry group.
We spent the afternoon outside.
They dug.
They got dirty.
And they discovered a story.


The earth is full of stories
of creatures long ago.
Some that roamed on trunk-like legs,
their gait steadied and slow.

Others moved much faster
and chased across the plains
ostrich-like, they sprang along
‘til on their prey they gained.

Sifting through the dirt
we found more pieces of the puzzle-
short pointed bones that could be claws
and some that might be muzzles.

Carefully we brushed away
the brownness of the ground
and searched in every corner
‘til all the bones were found.

Jaws with teeth all flat and  w i d e
were placed above a spine;
tail bones – short and spiky-
set in a great  l o n g  line.

Once the feet were added
we stood and looked down on
the creature we discovered-
a story not foregone.