I’m a stonemason by trade, but the county
has let me marry people for twenty years.
Nothing is quite like seeing a couple
set off on their life together.
I like to think our meeting is the start
of something solid, built on stone.
I do chimneys, patios and garden walls,
but a fireplace is my favorite job of all.
I save out local limestone with fossil shells,
wonders from the earth to lay in the mantle and hearth.
has let me marry people for twenty years.
Nothing is quite like seeing a couple
set off on their life together.
I like to think our meeting is the start
of something solid, built on stone.
I do chimneys, patios and garden walls,
but a fireplace is my favorite job of all.
I save out local limestone with fossil shells,
wonders from the earth to lay in the mantle and hearth.
One couple I just married is moving
to Reno, a town famous for divorce
if I recall, but there’s plenty of rock out there
and I married them on the nearest mountain.
That Western country would be something to see
but I’m satisfied in Arkansas
even if our scenery’s not as grand.
I spent a lifetime learning how to work
this Ozark stone, where to find the grain
and color that’s right for every job,
where to hit a slab and make it cleave.
