It is like alchemy in reverse:
Turning bright metal into
Dark stains on fingertips and
Under battered nails.

And yet, from those filthy hands
Emerges beauty: delicate yet
Strong, sparkling yet still
The intense heart of earth
Released by fire.

Perhaps this is the art
The alchemists never knew
They were trying to perfect.

The secret is not changing
One element into another, but
Coaxing the best from what is
Already there, making it
Somehow more itself.

10/08/2019

Posted on 11/18/2019
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