inscription · among the box hedges · a single word
river-cobble · undated · letterer unknown
one word, cut shallow, on a stone that already had the shape of having something to say. it sits in the back garden where the box-hedges almost meet, half-hidden in groundsel.
stay. it is not an instruction; it is not a plea; it is not a name. people read it differently — some take it as a memorial for an animal, some for a marriage, some for the place itself. the custodian takes it as none of these and refuses to elaborate.
the cobble has shifted a quarter-turn over a hundred winters; the word now leans slightly. moss has filled the Y. on the right kind of afternoon you do, briefly, do what it says.
field-note · do not try to find it. let the hedge tell you.
see also · garden a stone a word always unfinished