Spent the whole night
swallowing stones,
they did —
eating them off the ground
unwashed.  Licking them
all over for the full flavor
of the dirt
before swallowing
each one unchewed.

They described this
as a grounding practice,
a spiritual risk to be taken.
The heaviness
they admitted they felt
was their sense
of godly fists inside them
molding them to be useful
in some future fight,
and then they went to sleep
and stayed there.

I tell this
not to deter anyone
from swallowing stones,
eating dirt, or doing
other distasteful things
in the name of a calling.
This is only to remind you
that they’re gone now.