The Mystery of Stones by Ace Boggess

The Mystery of Stones

 Heavy rain two days in a row,

the drought resolves

like the mystery of stones

moving across a desert

when no one sees—same

culprit: water coming & going.

The old man’s sun-leathered skin

is salved. The doe

has left her hiding spot

for a better harvest on fresh ground.

Cars thrum by with windows down.

We can breathe again,

vises squeezing our chests

released. Night comes, &

with it cool & damp

emotions. The wasteland

didn’t arrive. We survived

the first day of September.

Ace Boggess is author of eight books of poetry, most recently Tell Us How to Live (Fernwood Press, 2025) and My Pandemic / Gratitude List (Mōtus Audāx Press, 2025). His writing has appeared in Indiana Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Hanging Loose, and other journals. An ex-con, he lives in Charleston, West Virginia, where he writes, watches Criterion films, and tries to stay out of trouble. His first short-story collection, Always One Mistake, was recently released from Running Wild Press.