Said The Coal To A Diamond

My stuff is so vile, I am less than dust

while your gleam rends the mirror's heart.

My darkness lights the chafing-dish

before I am incinerated. A miner's boot

tramples my head, covering me with ashes.

Do you know my life's gist?

A condensed sliver of smoke, transformed

into a single spark, in feature and nature

starlike, your every facet a splendor,

light of the king's eye, the dagger's jewel.

Friend, be wise, the diamond replied, assume

a bezel's dignity! Loam strives to harden

to fill my bosom with radiance. Burn

because you are soft. Banish fear and grief.

Be hard as stone, be a diamond.