Petoskey Stones and Sunbeams

another summer up north Michigan inspired poem

Dear friends, this week there is no introduction. Simply a poem about holding on to hope in a weary world. Read and listen below.

Petoskey Stones and Sunbeams
©Rebecca Wilson, July 2025


I’ve never not been inquisitive
   why can’t I use a double negative

how long does it take a grape to become a raisin
how much vinegar is needed to pickle a cucumber
if I take apart this typewriter
   how long for putting it back together
how long o god
   will you forget me
      forever

questions and quests for knowledge
perhaps a sign of being precocious 
probably a response to trauma

who, what, when, where, how and why
have always filled my mind
   and pages of a bedside journal

summer scribbles were special
writing about fresh air
cool breezes
the smell of pine and camp fire
deer in the rhubarb bushes
thunderstorms
soft warm sand
cool lake water
burning words on drift wood 
   with magnifying glasses
collecting rocks in coffee can containers 
everything my grandpa taught me
about petoskeys

these smooth 
treasures in my hand
holding them like diamonds
displaying them in the garage of my childhood
charging my friends admission to see them

the white lines 
resembling honeycombs
   who painted them
the ancient stories they tell
   who lived them

   why do we call them stones
they are really coral fossils
some 350 million years old

how come they didn’t introduce us
   to the folklores and lessons
explain how the name comes
from indigenous legend
meaning rising sun
   a promise of sunbeams

today I return 
as close to that beach as I can
as near to the past as my healing heart can stand
a note book in my pocket
unsinkable hope in my hand

that the fears weighing us down
   find freedom
   helpless thoughts keeping us frozen
that we release them
that in a weary world
   we all commit to lasting peace 
   building a beloved kin-dom

that children in Gaza have a safe place to sleep
that ICE melts and families can eat
that trans youth receive
   the love and healthcare they need
that loud hateful voices might change their speech
   or at least lose their place at the podium 
that a god condoning violence will die all alone
that lives swept away in flood zones 
   call us back to each other
that all those who journey
   for survival find a way home
 
that collectively curiosity
   is birthed
that sorrow and joy
   both stir us to wonder

that every time we reach into the water
   we touch a petoskey stone
   forever transformed
by the magic it holds

I’ve never not believed
these honeycombs were painted by sunbeams
   a promise
that light years from now
   someone will stumble 
                          upon
                          our story

Poetic Prompts
Choose any or all or none to write or reflect about.
Share in the comments if that feels right. I’ll do my absolute best to reply to everyone.

• Have you ever gone looking for rocks? Is there a special kind of rock that captures your attention? Do you have any Petoskey stones?

• Does hope feel more like a feather or a heavy burden?

• When is the last time you reached into the water? What did you find?

Water-fully yours,
Rebecca & 10 Camels