Lucky — Summary

Dave BontaRomantic

the stone grew a mouth for the mist not for the haze

but mistress enough on that irregular ground

it is a strange blockhead luck to be loved

Show the whole poemHide the poem

Learn Poems app

Try the Learn Poems app

Everything from the website trainer, and more: new exercises, voice recording and sharing, reminders, quick review.

Dave Bonta's short poem imagines a stone that grows a mouth, and the odd thing is what it grows it for: mist, specifically, "not for the haze." That small distinction matters. Mist is close, wet, something you can feel on your skin. Haze is vaguer, more distant. The stone seems to open itself only to what actually touches it.

The second stanza turns the mist into a "mistress," a playful pun, and says she is enough, even "on that irregular ground." The landscape is uneven and rough, yet the relationship holds. Then the speaker steps back and admits something with a shrug: being loved is "a strange blockhead luck." A blockhead is dull and stubborn, much like a stone, so the speaker may be quietly comparing himself to the stone. Love lands on us without our earning it.

The mood is tender, wry, and a little amazed. The speaker sounds humble, surprised to be cared for, and happy about it without making a fuss.

Read also

More by Dave Bonta

All poems
ContemplativeDave Bonta

Oak Apple Gall

Incidental planet, Biblical metonym for bitterness, a green anti-fruit filled with air in citrus-like sections
CheerfulDave Bonta

Thimble

The first thimble was the tanned hide of an enemy’s thumb. Whisky had yet to be invented, but needles were employed as lances
SadDave Bonta

Cold Front

With the cold front came news of your death— a failed bypass— and a skim of snow