A Stone Diary

1. This poem seems to be about the speaker’s deepening love of stone. What does the speaker say about that love? How is she affected by it? How has she been changed?
2. You might notice the poem charting a passage of time and the progression of this love. Take note of the first line of each stanza. What are those first lines doing to help move us through time and through the poem?
3. After reading Pat Lowther’s biography, and especially about the way she died, does your reading of this poem change? How do you understand the speaker’s love of stone?
4. You might find the first stanza of Lowther’s poem enigmatic or puzzling. The speaker seems to be speaking symbolically or withholding details. How do you understand these first four lines of the poem?
5. Notice this poem’s short lines. We tend to read short lines more slowly than longer ones. How fast or how slow would you recite this poem? Where would you accelerate or decelerate your recitation speed to maximize the impact for your audience?
6. Try writing a poem that borrows the first lines of each of Lowther’s stanzas. Your own stanzas will start with the same words as hers does, and out of them you’ll make your own “story”:

        At the beginning I noticed...

        Last week I became...

        I thought of...

        By the turn of the week...

        Yesterday I began...

        Today for the first time...

Useful Links

The Pat Lowther Memorial Award was first given out in 1981. Honouring books written by those who identify as women, it was created as a celebration and remembrance of Lowther’s life and work. Click here and then scroll down to see the list of winners of every Pat Lowther award, which reads like a who’s who of Canadian poetry.

“I abraded my hands / and made blood prints” is such a visceral image, and it also brings to mind some of the oldest art known on the planet. One brilliant example can be found in the Cueva de las Manos in Argentina, estimated to be between 9,500 and 13,000 years old.

Have you ever seen people “stacking stones” before? Here’s a video of just that: all you need are stones in your path, gravity, and an endless supply of patience.