A Happy Ending For Petrologists
Listen to the poem ...
A pebble sat upon a beach
and thought, as would a stone,
of whether in the Universe
it was a soul alone.
For it could see no evidence
to otherwise disprove
that rocks had not the wherewithal
to think or talk or move.
And there with countless coloured stones,
all smooth and weatherworn,
supressed its angst, lay motionless,
stayed quiet and forlorn.
Through summers and through winters,
it endured its solitude.
In pebbly reflection,
existentially it stewed.
It watched the sun, it watched the stars,
endured the rain and snow.
It contemplated life and death
until it felt quite low.
In sad and sorry state
it grew despondent day by day.
For company it yearned
more than this poem can convey.
And as its hopes diminished
with each wave that crashed the shore,
it worried that it might be quite alone
forever more ...
Until it sighed aloud
and solitude came to an end;
a fellow pebble turned and smiled
and asked to be its friend.
... awwww : )
and thought, as would a stone,
of whether in the Universe
it was a soul alone.
For it could see no evidence
to otherwise disprove
that rocks had not the wherewithal
to think or talk or move.
And there with countless coloured stones,
all smooth and weatherworn,
supressed its angst, lay motionless,
stayed quiet and forlorn.
Through summers and through winters,
it endured its solitude.
In pebbly reflection,
existentially it stewed.
It watched the sun, it watched the stars,
endured the rain and snow.
It contemplated life and death
until it felt quite low.
In sad and sorry state
it grew despondent day by day.
For company it yearned
more than this poem can convey.
And as its hopes diminished
with each wave that crashed the shore,
it worried that it might be quite alone
forever more ...
Until it sighed aloud
and solitude came to an end;
a fellow pebble turned and smiled
and asked to be its friend.
... awwww : )
This poem is copyright (©) Jonathan Humble 2026
About the Writer
Jonathan Humble
Jonathan lives in Cumbria. His work has been published online and in print in a number of magazines and anthologies. His first collection of poetry, My Camel's Name Is Brian, was published by TMB Books in 2015. His second poetry book, Fledge came out in 2020 through Maytree Press. His poems for children have been shortlisted and highly commended in the Caterpillar and Yorkmix poetry competitions and he is the editor of The Dirigible Balloon. His poems Masterclass and This Work is Done were chosen as the Milk House Poem of the Year at the end of 2022 and 2023.
