Worry Stone

Eric Paul Shaffer

“Leave the worrying to professionals,
and live your lives.”

— Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City

In ancient days, a wise woman
presented me a worry stone.

“In times of trouble,” she whispered,
“rub your thumb over this,
and your mind will be at peace.”

Since the third millennium,
I’ve worn a hole through the stone
into which my worries drain.

That stone is a cipher now, a zero,
the single hole in our defenses
that the professionals will plug

with my life or someone else’s.
I need worry no more.