The Hardest Thing
The hardest thing is diamond,
Which in nature has all the charm
Of a pebble on the beach.
For such a one to fulminate
And carry light inside,
It must be cut, again and yet again
By the only thing that can—
Another diamond
In precisely angled facetry.
That is not an easeful discipline,
And has a hardness all its own.
For there are fracture planes
That must be borne in mind
While the cutting’s done,
As otherwise, you’ll just wind up
With very pricy dust. Just so
Alignment’s learned. For hard on hard
Is simply not enough;
Well behind the cleaving blow
Lies a very soft esteem.
Gerald Blake Storrow lives in Cambridge and Chilmark, and is another satisfied customer of Nancy Slonim Aronie’s Writing from the Heart workshops. If she hadn’t been around, he says, he would never have written anything.
The Martha’s Vineyard Times welcomes contributions to Poet’s Corner. Dan Waters, former poet laureate of West Tisbury, will select poems to be published here. Submissions should be directed to dan@indianhillpress.com.