Burdens (a poem by Ariana)
We went over this sacred pass for the Andean people. They carry a stone up the pass and leave it there on the cairns. Everyone in the group carried up a stone, or multiple. We were told to take that rock and make it resemble something we wanted to leave behind. Personally, I took up five rocks. The biggest, which was about a foot long and an inch thick, represented fear. The next four were hate, envy, remorse, and a shin splint. When we eventually made it to the top of the pass there were thousands upon thousands of rocks, and cairn after cairn to be seen. It was so breathtaking to see all of those stones placed by many people for a specific thing they wanted to leave behind. This is what my poem was inspired from.
Burdens
Who carries our burdens?
Is it the Andean tradition
Of rocks left on the pass?
Is it the rock it self
Or the earth on which it rests?
Is it the wind that blows by
And picks up the burdens left on the rocks?
Is it the clouds which our moved by the wind?
Is it the rain that falls from the cloud?
Is it the rivers that carry the rain?
Is it the lakes in which the rivers pour into?
Is it the plants or animals that drink from the pool?
Does the burden fall back on man
Who is sustained by these plants and animals?
So, if we leave our burdens on the rocks on that pass
Who carries our burdens, in the end?
Thanks Ari for sharing this – you are a wonderful writer!