THE JEWEL

In the morning of her life she found a pearl. She did not have it long.
It was taken from her all too soon. The noontime came and after that,
A jewel, not sought, but placed within her hand.
Another's hands were also there, and so they looked upon this thing
Entrusted to their care
It sparkled, radiant with promises to be kept, dreams to be fulfilled,
The hope, the joy to hold this beauteous thing forever.
They laughed, they cried, their feet near left the ground.
They soared above the trivial, mundane things to which some souls
Are bound.
But then some scratches on their jewel appeared. Like little rivulets
They filled with tears. She wiped them off upon her sleeve. A tiny
Chip and then another. She tired so hard to put them back in place.
They would not stay. The scars from selfish handling would not be
Erased.
A careless word, a stumbling act, little, like the chips that fell.
They left their jewel a sorry, dulled thing. Better stolen, lost
Forever, then a beauteous gem by sheer neglect destroyed.
Oh Master Jeweler, giver of this love, restore their jewel or must
She look and only find a stone?
The night has come. it is too late, too dark to find another.