I walked up to the ruins that laid upon the hill,
Fields of flowers encircling,
The stones now fallen and still.
Great buildings used to stand in the morning light.
Now there is just rubble strewn upon the site.
Except in the center,
A single column stands,
Both magnificent and sad,
The ruins upon this land.
I went up to the column and looked up to the top.
I heard come from its core,
I really want to stop.
I was cut in a quarry,
They chiseled all my sides.
I left the land I knew,
Brought here on the tides.
The site was once so beautiful,
Statues of glory and grace.
I held up the roof so people could come and gape.
They would look upon the marble the gods each had a face.
They never saw the roof above or thought about its weight.
I was told over and again it takes such strength to stand.
But then they all fell,
Cracked faces over the land.
I'm proud of what I've done,
Of the weight I've held so long.
But I really want to stop.
This isn't where I belong.
I put my hand upon the stone and told it of its worth.
I looked down at the statues splintered on the earth.
Students gloriously admired their arms were broken or gone.
The gods so many adored,
Protected all along by the only column standing,
The last upon this land,
Cold around and through and freezing to my hand.
The tourists,
They come,
They take my portraiture.
They marvel that I'm standing,
They say I'm strong and pure.
Would you please lean and push me to the ground?
I don't want to be the strong one,
The only one around.
I've learned that when you stand,
When others fall to earth,
You end up all alone and hated for your worth.
I truly do not know how to not be what I am,
But I'd really like to crumble.
Would you please give me a hand?
I couldn't understand the column's point of view.
It represents that in this life we stand for what is true.
I told the column that every day the sun would touch it first,
That it could see when clouds were thin or just about to burst,
That it could see what others can't,
But it cared not for my thoughts.
It told me to step back a bit,
Walk to another plot,
Ask the woman there,
The one cracked side to side,
What she thinks of the one that stands when she on dirt now lies.
Ask the general on the plinth if he thinks I'm grand,
Or if he too is mad that yet I still do stand.
You will leave today and never come again.
I'll never see your face,
But over this begins,
More will come and say,
Look at that column there,
What strength that rock does have to reach up to the air.
I'll ask you just to think on this when you've gone and the day is done.
The ones that stand alone don't stand because it's fun.
Standing up when others cave just means you're left alone and hoping for eternity you weren't made out of stone.
The next time someone bothers you by standing up in life,
By pointing out the things you wish weren't brought to light.
Ask yourself what it costs the person who takes a stand.
I guarantee they know that one day on their land,
They may see what others don't.
They may touch the sky,
But it's harder than a stone to stand when others lie.
