Stone

"Ah, no; the years, the years 
Down their carved names the rain-drop ploughs" - Thomas Hardy

You made rubbings 
of the marks of death. 
easing them carefully 
onto the page
 
worn words rising 
sharp 
from crumbling stone.
 
The strong hands of death 
ease you 
into the earth 
but your careful marks 
will outlive 
stone


by Séamus Duggan

'Stone' was a winner of the Goodreads poetry competition 

and was written in response to the death of Séamus Heaney, in 2013.