The Weight of Time
The earth does not speak, yet it keeps a record. We walk over the surface, oblivious to the slow grinding of stone against stone, the patient erasure of what came before. There is a violence in the water that we mistake for peace. It carves, it strips, it lays bare the ribs of the world. We look for permanence in our own lives, building houses on shifting ground, naming things that will eventually be unmade. But the rock knows better. It holds the pressure of ages in its thin, brittle pages. To look closely is to realize that we are only passing through a very long silence. What remains when the water finally recedes? Is it the stone that changes, or is it the way we choose to see the ruin?
Tisha Clinkenbeard has captured this quiet endurance in her image titled Beavers Bend State Park Shale Rock. The layers tell a story of what was once hidden beneath the surface. Does the weight of this history feel heavy to you?
