Sun burnishes the granite,
a blessing on the stone
making it warm as human skin
but still as hard as bone.

Sculpture of the Fallen Christ
like an erratic boulder:
a child at play has clambered up
to perch upon his shoulder.

She rides upon the solid rock,
joyfully, safely there:
rough stone supports her hands and feet,
the wind plays with her hair.

I see a place of refuge
for a troubled little girl:
God’s back being broad enough to bear
the weight of all the world.

Jan Sutch Pickard – Wild Goose Publications