rain

The 'Rain' Stanza Stone is the third stone of the Stanza Stone project, found at Cow's Mouth Quarry at Blackstone edge. There are seven Stanza Stones, each one is carved with a poem by the poet Simon Armitage. They are found in locations which follow the Pennine watershed, they were written to reflect the relationship between the language and landscape of Yorkshire.

It's difficult to read the carvings because of the light, here is a transcript of the poem, the letters were carved by a lady called Pip Hall.

RAIN
Be glad of these freshwater tears,
Each pearled droplet some salty old sea-bullet
Air-lifted out of the waves, then laundered and sieved, recast as a soft bead and returned.
And no matter how much it strafes or sheets, it is no mean feat to catch one raindrop clean in the mouth,
To take one drop on the tongue, tasting cloud pollen, grain of the heavens, raw sky.
Let it teem, up here where the front of the mind distils the brunt of the world.