Published in Poetry d'Amour 2021

Nuggets and dust

Gold gathers in clusters,

forms dust and nuggets

on land. Won’t blend when

returned to the stars.

In four-o-clock sun

gold light covers landscapes

and skin. His pale hands take

what others left, for silver dollars.

He offers me rock: pale brown with yellow

patches, from an exploration trip to Liberia.

Rough, unmannered, no sparkle

on the surface.

Once we were gold.

Our shimmer lit

a nest of stars.

Needed two, not one, to shine.

A gold ring placed in my hand

by someone who lost her man.

Could you transform our love

into a pair of earrings?

My jeweller’s torch can melt

this gold, re-shape and join,

even with silver. But the essence

remains unchanged.

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