PEARLING OFF THE LAYERS

I saw a pearl once, and called it mine.

Polished and opaline,

A single gleaming bead.

A tiny bit of the ocean, I said

And I wore it around my neck.

It hangs low and deep -

A solitary pearl strung with silver

Extending all the way to my heart.

It takes me back, underwater.

Geared up and fish like in fins,

I cut through the water in silence,

save for the sound of my breath.

The wonders I see, all the way down

Colonies, much like ours.

The fish zipping around, they mean business,

While the sea urchins lounge about.

The sting ray buries itself in sand,

The parrot fish glazes over sea grass,

The clown fish is very very shy.

Colours the scream out-

We’re here, even where there isn’t much light!

A world that may seem so distant

But very much a part of ours.

If only, you allow yourself to imagine.

And then we get back to the pearl,

This special charm I cleverly hold

Rolling it between my fingers,

When I feel anxious or cold.

My little pearl from an oyster,

I made you mine and gave you a new story,

Until today, when I heard someone say,

‘An oyster that has not been wounded in any way does not produce pearls, because a pearl is a healed wound.’

So now your story I change.