Hagstone

Earth, wind, fire and water,
each of them a divine daughter,
waged a war on heaven and earth,
so powerful that it gave birth
to weather-witches, hags and crones,
who traded in claws and bones,
feathers, fangs, skulls and shells,
to strengthen herbs and magic spells.

Each bound to their own element,
some witches crooned a sullen lament,
aggrieved that they were chained to night,
craved the sun’s power, heat and light.
They touched the heart of a sorceress sister,
who created from rock a shiny mirror
to catch the last rays of the sun
to give them light when day is done.

As with most spells and promises made,
a covenant was placed upon the deed
that full light was just monthly given,
and only when the clouds were riven.
The witches, sly and unsatisfied,
located a stone to buff and shine;
they cooled it in a witching pool,
where sunlight bored a perfect hole,

clear as an eye, right in the middle,
a perfect hagstone from a pebble.

Kim M. Russell, 14th January 2021

200+ Hagstone ideas | hag stones, stone, hag

My response to dVerse Poets Pub Meeting the Bar: Personification and Imagery

Grace is our host for this month’s exploration of literary devices, the techniques that writers use to create a special and pointed effect in order to to convey information or help readers understand their writing on a deeper level, for emphasis or clarity, or to get readers to connect more strongly with either a story as a whole or specific characters or themes.

Grace is wants us to focus on personification and imagery and gives us explanations and examples of both techniques. Our challenge is to write poems utilizing personification, imagery or a combination of both.

Image found on Pinterest

50 thoughts on “Hagstone”

  2. This is a wonderful narrative poem rich in bewitching imagery, Kim. There is a rock close to where I live called the ‘Hag’s Tooth’ and I could just imagine weird sisters dancing underneath that rock with their hagstones when I read this.

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  3. Such gorgeously rich and vivid imagery in this one, Kim! 😀 I especially love; “They touched the heart of a sorceress sister, who created from rock a shiny mirror to catch the last rays of the sun to give them light when day is done.”💝💝

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    1. I had a beautiful hagstone but it disappeared many years ago. I have a feeling my old dog thought it was for playing with (we used to roll stones on the flat sand for him) and may have buried it in the garden of a house we no longer live in. I hope to find another just as soon as this pandemic is over and I can go to the beach again.

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      1. It must have been a big stone. Mine is tiny. I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with it for ages. After this conversation ( and your poem) Iam inspired to make it into a pendant. I’ll post a picture on my blog when I finish it.

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  5. I didn’t know they were called hagstones. My dad used to collect them. We had hundreds of them!
    Your sorceresses put me in mind of the Graeae and their single eye. I can imagine them using mirrors to capture what only one could see at a time, and wearing hagstones as earrings.

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  8. Reading this aloud doth feel like a cousin to Macbeth, where covens flourish, and mists carry diverse spells. I had not heard of hagstones either. I must use them in some future poetic.

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  11. Fascinating magic unfolds in this narrative poem. Like Bjorn, he word hagstone was new to me, so now I’ve learned about those mysterious stones with time and water-weathered holes. What a pleasant interlude, Kim. Thank you.

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  17. It’s a long time since I had my hands on a hagstone. I love your weather witches, and their alliterative totems, and their longing for light. I’m hoping our current rain witch is moving on. The sun is trying hard to shine. Maybe I need to whip out some fangs and feathers.

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  21. Hagstones new to me too – What an enchanting tale. Like Metamorphoses by Ovid – always its the conditions placed on any gift – Persephone returns to the underworld for a season – the night witches get a month of reflected light – that creates the drama – or in this case these wonderful stones.

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