Author: Jonathan Riggs
Year: 2023
Award: 3rd Place
“It’s just a rock,” we sneer
and stare into our phone
but if you really think about it
so’s the earth our home
and everything on which we stand
and live our insect lives
we plumb for meaning in our screens
and to what’s beyond are blind
that “just a rock” behind the glass
danced through space and spun
to burn and freeze and fly and fall
a life before the sun
it hit the ground and now stares back
wise-quiet ponders through
“it’s just a rock,” it hears but knows
“I’ve seen much more than you.”