Woodburners for Cid Corman’s 80^th Birthday

by Bob Arnold

A stone cairn in the woods. Easy enough to build in an hour or two if the stone is simply there, spread about, each one to grab. But this was built the old fashioned trailways special—hiking each day and bringing up the hill a stone from the trail. No cheating and finding specialities elsewhere, just a rock or flat stone under foot. Laid dry. One at a time, every day. This was begun two months ago for the passing of Cid Corman, close friend to the family, close friend to many families. One who made families of poets. Stones wrapped around a hemlock stump left behind by loggers once upon a time and a place to let some of Cid’s ashes soak into the rain of the stump. Cid started it—stone was added for others who passed away at the same time as Cid or thereafter—so to Larry Fixel, Carl Rakosi, Gil Ott, Steve Lacy, Maureen White’s mother, my own father, our friend Richard Levasseur’s son. A living stone in place for Shizumi. Greg Joly from Bull Thistle Press came by one rainy day and in his palm he juggled up a hefty and near perfectly round small boulder of granite, with a circle gash ingrain of quartz. We immediately took it to the kitchen sink and watched the quartz water open. The ideal capstone for the top of the cairn.  Everyone has contributed, you can feel it as you hike the long woodlot path.

RHYTHM

I’ve a stone to carry to the top of the hill
I’ve a stone to bring back

At the top of the hill there is a cairn
Being built for long gone loved ones

At home there are many stonewalls
I keep building out of love and place

It isn’t confusing
It’s stone

                                     —Bob Arnold

photo by Bob Arnold