Opals and Amethysts
Every day I found exquisite jewelsadrift in magazines
or buried in the efforts of translators.
No one recognized
the sparkle in the town directory,
the gem that graced the index
of the almanac,
the perfect beauty whose creator
was coincidence.
And when I found them
I was jealous of their excellence,
conscious of the smaller world
their neat finality
had forced upon my strangled art.
1968
First published in Orphic Lute.
