Heart of Stone

It seems unlikely now,
this piece of stone snatched from a beach
somewhere on Tenerife.

She found it.
I wonder if she set out to find
an astonishing souvenir,

or simply something harder to break.
A perfect heart-shaped stone
caressed by tender tides

and washed up on a warmer shore.
It seemed a little sentimental then,
and even more so now,

now that we’ve drifted into other lives.
It sits on my desk.
From time to time I consider it.

It works well as a paperweight.