How the Stones Came to Venice

Book excerpt: Poet Gary Lawless takes us on a journey to discover the answers to the question of how the stones came to Venice, and in the process creates a work that is marvelous, lucid and stunningly new. How the Stones Came to Venice draws on history, philosophy, mineralogy, alchemy, and hagiography to tell the story of stone. In the process Lawless offers us a treasure trove of other stories, of anarchists, stonemasons and saints; he offers prayers and meditations on man's stewardship of the earth; he shares the story of his own journey from the quarries of Prospect, Maine, to the stone streets and churches of Venice, the islands of Greece, the mountains of Turkey and the forests of Lithuania, to return at last to the stones and waters of Maine, his home state.