Stones, by Joey Meffen

I load stones down by the fair.
It pays well but I must be aware.
If I do not I will stare
into the cold heart of despair.

The rocks go quickly, one by one.
Before too long I've done a ton.
And by the time that I am done,
5 hours past till I have won.

I do not feel the days go past.
I load the stones until the last.
It feels like I go so very fast,
but it took me 5 years to build that rocky mass.

I cannot leave, for I am not done.
I cannot leave, for I have not won.
The rocks go past, one by one
until I have loaded over a ton.


   This free verse poem is about a man who loads rocks, and is amazed at how quickly the time goes by. He seems to want to leave, but he cannot until he has finished, and that time will likely never come. This poem has 4 quartets with a rhyme scheme of AAAABBBBCCCCBBBB. This poem has an example of assonance (I load stones, Stanza 1, Line 1).