Circle of Stones

Circle of Stones

There’s thunder in the glowering sky
way down in the hushed valley tonight.
The sun is dropping to the horizon,
the clouds refract its amber light.

Something strange is stirring in the air,
I hear their voices carry on the breeze.
I rise up from the evening mist
and climb the hill toward the trees.

There in a clearing of fallow fields
on a cliff overlooking the rocky strands,
they gather round the circle of stones
with glowing torches in their delicate hands.

Beneath the luminous moonlight,
peach chiffon skirts flutter as they dance.
The buzzing of honeybees in my ears,
I stand before them, drifting into a trance.

I long to touch those rocks of Craigh na Dun,
to transport me to a place so far away.
From the craggy shores of my distant past,
time traveling to the frontiers of a new day.

Sometimes I’m tough as hammer and nails
and sometimes I wilt in the pouring rain.
Circle of stones, grant me the strength
to make a new life and cast away the pain.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2023
June 9, 2023

Happy Friday/Happy Saturday, all! I am writing this late on a Friday night, listening to the Outlander soundtrack. But I will sleep on this and post on Saturday morning, as it is getting late.

As soon as I saw this week’s topic “Time Traveling,” I was immediately taken back to Scotland in the 1700’s. I have been following the Outlander series on Starz for years, and I am also reading the books. Currently I am almost finished reading “Written in My Own Heart’s Blood,” which is the 8^th book of Diana Gabaldon’s series. I am thoroughly enjoying the storyline and of course, the characters Jamie and Claire Fraser!

There have been times in my life where I’ve thought it would be cool to transport to the past… or maybe the future. The future actually seems a lot scarier to me!  It is fun to fantasize about that, and I imagine the details of what it would be like. But then you realize you cannot really escape your present. (Or can you?) We are put on this planet for a reason, to thrive and hopefully make the world a better place when we leave. We ponder it and think life might have been simpler in the past, but could you really survive in the 1700s without modern conveniences like indoor plumbing, cell phones or your car? Not me! Maybe you could, maybe you were born to compete in the show “Survivor” and rough it out in the wilderness! But I’d say that takes a very unique, tough individual. I definitely wouldn’t be cut out for that. Hell, I hated camping while in the Girl Scouts and certainly couldn’t and wouldn’t do it now lol. Not even if it was glamping! No thanks, no soggy tents or even cabins with spiders for me. You’ll find me at the nearest Ritz Carlton, Kimpton or Marriott Courtyard Hotel instead!

This poem is a musing about Claire’s journey through the stones of Craigh na Dun, a fictional place set in 1700s Scotland. I imagine what she must have gone through, straddling the present and then being dropped into a past which was harsh but yielded a beautiful love and a new life. As for me… I’m perfectly happy where I am in my own life, in my little bubble surrounded by family, friends, cats, nature, mountains and sunsets. And I plan to stay around for as long as possible and live my life to the fullest!! Just exploring some fun and fantasy this week. Have a lovely weekend, all!

XOXO Colleen

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 49.14 – Time Traveling
Hard Bonus: Include a Meat Loaf lyric or line (“There’s thunder in the sky,” “way down in the valley tonight”)
Easy Bonus: Mention a hammer and nail