Stone Soup

Where young artists paint the world with words

The international magazine of stories, poems, and art by young writers and artists. Published continuously since 1973.

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Pray

I kneel down to the river
And say my prayers
As I hear the water
flowing and rolling
I think about how freedom has overgrown
The magnificent mud of the Mississippi
I hear birds skim the treetops
And remember how, when I was a little girl,
My mom walked me there, and
I saw the brown water
I feel memories drift on the surface and
See my shadow through the deep.

Gianna Harris Pray
Gianna Harris, 9
Metairie, LA