I didn't grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth
Mine was made of diamond, sapphire, ruby, and jade
Far more precious than those spoons of silver and gold
Because I didn't know money
But I knew love
The most precious gem that you can't buy

Your eyes are the sea at a boardwalk on a sunny day,
with the sea foam splashing small children holding onto their drippy ice cream cones,
begging their mothers for "one last ride".

Your eyes are the sparkle in a sapphire stone,
Precious, something to be coveted and treasured.

And when you smile...your eyes, they glitter and dance,
like sparks flying off of a sparkler on the Fourth of July.

In my heart burns the brightest fire
Keeping the liquid rubies running through my veins
My scars shine the purest gold and silver
My tears the deepest
Sapphire blue
But my feet are made of clay

If fusion were just
a cheap trick to
make gems stronger,

then would Garnet
have even found
Sapphire and Ruby
to begin with?

Is our comfort made
from presence or
conversation and
which is stronger?

The side effect of
unconditions is that
thing expectation
dreads; some book
already read

turned its page and said:
I am made of love, boldly
with inflated lungs, but

what is love
even made of?

The forgotten gem among the precious
Your love is too dark for a child
Also precious
Yet pure like a diamond
Diamonds are so common

Garnet, you are rich
Richer than most in quality
Perhaps a banker or lawyer would remember you
But no, sapphires are rich
Richer than dull gold, not rich enough I say

You reach new depths, Garry
Like an ocean trench filled with the remains of the unknown's lunch
Not as deep as the amethyst, apparently
That is spiritually charged and better for the soul
Your violence is a stain, but I say it is a warning

Garnish, you lack value
Topaz is the quality they seek
The eye of the sun, so bright
Too bright
The eye of Jupiter is too much, I say enough

Oh Garnet
Forget Ruby, your sister
Forget Emerald, your opposite
Forget Opal, all in one, the God of the gems
You are Alfred the Great, so great, yet forgotten

The legend said that there was a boy in the mid 800 who begged everyday to the Sun God That his black eyes could be blue as sapphire. In Africa every person of the region had dark eyes, but he felt he wanted to have light blue eyes so someday he could go with the sky Gods and be their helper and trainee. The only requisite was to have blue or gray eyes; for them these two colors meant purity and identified the only ones who could meet them. Shmuel wanted it, but that meant he was going to go away from his house and live his family forever, because once you go and see a God you can’t return to Earth nor have contact with humans again. After years of begging to the sun, he accepted it, and turned his eyes blue as sapphire. The day he had to go was sad; all his community was in his house saying goodbye to him. Everyone since then called him “the child with the sapphires eyes”. He knew that earth and his family were history already. Before being introduced to the Gods Space he turned back his head once again and saluted with a smile all his community. Since then his mind was erased and a new Shmuel was created. Now he served these Gods, and as an apprentice he would turn to be like them in the future.

Elena Ramos

Short Fictional Story