Solitaire

The lapidary likes

pale digits, adorned with rubies,

diamonds, and safe bets.

Each facet does its duty:

controls inward reflection,

emits a diplomatic glint.

Silty satin gloves my hand:

Raw earth courses through heart lines

And fills the nail beds.

You share your lather;

red clay remains.

No stone crowns my knuckle -  

I am free to sledgehammer

through the mantle

to hydrothermal veins.

The display-case gem is a solitary echo;

Magnificence is in the mine:

Quartz and emerald constellations

pulsing through dark caverns.

Brilliance is internal fire;

your flames outlast the world.

10 June – 6 July

Beneath Cassiopeia