A Pearl

I’ve never longed for the flash of diamonds,
Though they have their rightful claim to wonder.
Anything standing the test of time and great pressure
Cannot be anything but beautiful.

Yet to me, the ultimate symbol of loveliness lies
Within a simple pearl.
Timeless and classic with exquisite grace,
The emblem of everything I aspire to be.

For I know what it is to start out insignificant;
Invisible among infinite particles along the shore.
To wind up confined in a foreign shell.
Submerged in the chilling dark and the deep.

Layers build up, time rolls by and consternation grows.
Resigned to your fate, surrender sets in.
You question what purpose a speck could contain.
Hope swallowed in the safety of living each day the same.

Until suddenly the old prison walls crack.
Practiced hands pluck you from the world you’ve known.
Exposing you once again to a nearly forgotten sun,
It’s brilliant beams painful and new.

And now in the light you glimmer and shine.
A mote molded into something much more.
Hard years of experience smoothed into wisdom’s armor,
A jewel transformed, and ready to take your treasured place.