Take this flat, round, stone
I told my son, and daughter too
Throw it hard, spinning it
Across the stilled pond
Count your big splashes
Watch the ripples grow
First stones they threw
Only singular sets of ripples
Then two, then three, then more
Eventually, their stones, with mine
Easily reached the other shore
Splashes, into ripples galore
Ripples formed by casted rocks
Have they lasting print upon
Hearts of those I've loved
Standing now on faraway shores
Gleefully leaping, dancing, tossing
Skipping stones hid in their pockets
Are my stones, living on in ripples
Marked indelible in memories
Cast in mind's marble and stone
A forever legacy or merely
A dimly lit fading thought
In minds and hearts forlorn
Once, when I was young
I knew, I could ripple the world
Now, I only hope a weary rest
To lay burden upon the shore
Enfeebled arm, for slinging stones
Pond's winter death, comes nigh
A bit of time left, of sweet life
To cast a few more stones
Boulders, to toss into the river
Giving the biggest splash
Heavy to lift, except with help
From other believers in ripples
© 2017 Jim Davis
Ok, fellow believers, here is my pitiful effort following my recently posted short stanza "Ripples". Playing with the word "ripple" and thinking about the idea of the "butterfly effect'. Keep believing! "I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples." -Mother Teresa