Full laden, she rocked the waves
Hull full with gems
Facet-less, but diamond-like
Many sized, divers sourced
From brown, from white from yellow—
Glitt’ring, shiny
Jewel Boxes full, treasure trove
Sea chests, much bestuffed
With tears—
Tears, most precious of man’s jewels
Ripped ready-refined
Pure, Holy
Tears of Expectation. Of joy
Some born of laughter, of weeping
Most precious- tears of love
Windswept tears
Tears of growing up, of getting old
Tears of longing
Meeting and parting tears
Missing you tears, tears of relief
Salt-bedecked, rich warm greeting tears
Little girl tears, delicately dropped
From her loving temples
Tears from blind eyes-like jewels
Got, from a mine of darkness
Onward it sailed
To the edge of the Earth
This magic ship
Could I but discover its destination
A velvet world of diamonds!
Leonard N. Shapiro. [1950, N.Y. on death of baby niece]
*Rededicated to those lost to the pandemic
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