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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BELLY OF THE BEAST

It’s the guard of the non-rubbed spot
The belly
It will hiss and scratch to get its way
Till he wins as protector
His roar isn’t mighty
It is hairy and soft
It will run and charge
Break and bend
Hit and whack
Bat and claw
When this happens, the singing of Earth stops
The people who rub no like violence
The Earth no like it either
The biter, hisser, scratcher, biter, and clawer no like it either
He can’t control himself
Violence is no one’s friend
Not even a cat’s

Analise Braddock
Analise Braddock, 9
Katonah, New York