Raining Crystals
used to spend
hours
on a dirt road
digging for quartz
crystal
it wasn’t paved
back then
but a cloud
of dust
a muddy mess
when it rained
hot on bare feet
in the blaze of summer
rock hard in the dead of winter
took so many walks
up and down
that dusty dead-end
never searching
for gold
‘cause there’s no prism
in a nugget
but if you hold a quartz
crystal
up to the light
there’s a rainbow
in your hands
i had a collection of color
something hopeful
in my pocket
since then my collection
has morphed
into Swarovski
anything with a sparkle
stops me
so when I saw this ginormous quartz
crystal
under a spotlight
incased in glass
I stood there
transfixed
my daughter noticed me
taking pictures
of it
and listened to me
ramble on
about how
i used to dig in the dirt for hours
looking for a cut of crystal
diamonds to me
and here was this enormous slab
that reminded me of that scene in Superman
the fortress of solitude
it was something to see
up close
but nothing quite
could prepare me
for the sight of it
in my house
full of rainbows
and light
the weight of it in my hands
on the day I turned 50
and all I could do was
cry
TL